AI is the next great thing! AI is ruining the world!

Yes, there are a lot of overreactions to AI going around, and I’m consciously trying not to add to that noise.

Instead, I thought I’d give you a quick overview of some instances in which I’ve found AI useful and some insights into where it’s not so useful (for me).

Writing Tasks – a terrific intern

I do a lot of writing for this email conversation, my website, or the occasional proposal or plan and approach for a consulting or recruiting opportunity.

Unfortunately, staring at a blank page drains my creativity and, eventually, my will to live. To avoid that, I usually open a new document and start writing whatever gibberish comes to mind. That gets me started, and I can work from there.

As an alternative, I’ve tried heading over to Claude+ and asking it to create an outline or rough draft from my initial idea. That is sometimes faster to get me started, and then I can write from there.

Conversely, I recently wrote a draft that came out significantly too long. I asked AI to rewrite it 50% shorter. I’ve also asked AI to change the tone of an email (make this email friendlier, or make this email more direct).

However, when I asked it to help me develop a pop culture reference for a point I was trying to make, it created a completely fictional episode of The Office! While it made my point beautifully, since it was made up, it didn’t create the reference I hoped for!

I find AI to be a little better than a good intern or entry-level analyst for these types of writing tasks. It’s nothing I would give to a client or put on my website, but it’s a quick way to get started.

There are many good tools for creating meeting summaries from call recordings or transcripts, which can be useful when you need a quick meeting recap. Again, it needs a read-through and some edits, but it does speed things up.

Advice – Surprisingly helpful

I was prepping for a call with a new client opportunity. It was not a typical new business opportunity, and I was uncertain about it. I opened Chat-GPT and asked it, “I’m about to get on a sales call; what are some things I should be thinking about as I prepare?” It gave me five brief points that were actually helpful!

I’ve also used it to rubber-ducky a problem I’m trying to solve. As I talk through the problem with the AI, I get clearer about what I’m looking for, and even the responses that I get, which are way off base, are helpful to see how I’m not explaining it well.

Image generation – a lesson in frustration

I see the beautiful AI-generated images folks post on social media, but I can’t figure out how to write a prompt to get what I want. This has been a waste of time for me. (I’m open to help on this!)

How are you using AI? What’s working for you? Hit reply and let me know!

P.S. If you want to get a group zoom together to share some knowledge, let me know I’ll set one up.