It’s Tuesday. Welcome to the 24 new subscribers since last week.

Once again, we’re all about AI. But…if you were reeled in by me talking about my cats, here’s an update. They’re comfortably sleeping next to me, on my newly set-up decoy desk, and I have another full desk with which to write.

What a treat.

Now. Onto making your life easier with AI.

In today’s issue:

• We’ll dive into how to use AI to learn quicker. You’ll be able to start doing it instantly.

• Examples that I’ve used to make ChatGPT actually useful. You’ll see how you can do it, too.

• Some tips to avoid being fooled by AI. You’ll want to read them.

• AI drawing Mona Lisa…as a five year old.

Deep dive

How to use ChatGPT to learn quicker

I'm trying something new.

I want to talk to AI like it's a human.

Saying things like "What do you think?" and "Please" and "Thank you”

Why?

The first reason is simple. When the robot uprising happens, I want a head start. Everyone who doesn't say "please" is first on the hit list.

The second reason is just as important. If I can explain what I want, I get better outcomes.

Confused? Let's take the example of learning. I'm using AI to teach me about...everything.

Here's a few ways AI does that well.

1/ AI can summarize information and transcripts, easily.

There’s a million different ways to do this, and it really comes down to how you learn best. Personally, when I run into articles that I feel are a bit lengthy, I will ask ChatGPT to summarize it like the following:

Easy peasy.

2/ AI can develop a custom learning plan for me

When I’m learning anything, it can feel kind of overwhelming. You’re not sure where to start, what key concepts to approach, and frankly, what’s important. I’m starting to leverage ChatGPT to help with this. ChatGPT can understand the most important areas to learn a subject, as well as the order in which to learn them. Here’s a great example.

3/ AI can test my understanding of anything

Let’s say you’re reading something, and you’re not quite sure if you’re getting it. For me, I was reading about Standard Oil, one of the original US monopolies. I sort of understood how they became so dominant, but wasn’t sure. So, I hit ChatGPT with this:

Takeaway? You can explain your understanding to ChatGPT, and see if it’s close to correct.

4/ AI can help me avoid rookie mistakes

This one is underrated.

Sort of a “top ten ways to NOT learn” when diving into a subject. It can be as broad or as narrow as you want.

For example…I should have read about the top mistakes programmers make when they’re starting out.

It would have saved me DAYS of headaches.

Now, I know what you're thinking.

Isn’t part of the learning process making mistakes?

Yes.

There’s a difference between typing the wrong code and jumping into a project that I’m not ready to handle.

The goal with this prompt is to get more experiences of the former, which lead to growth. We want less of the latter.

5/ AI can give me the best resources to learn about any subject

Books, podcasts, articles, movies, TED talks, the list goes on. There are famous resources for every job. AI can help you sniff out what’s actually valuable.

6/ AI can explain the quick stuff like I'm not an expert

Sometimes, I don’t need to understand a concept deeply. When I’m curious about why a weather pattern in California is causing rain in Texas, I don't need a novel. I want to learn something quick. Explaining something like I'm five, or ten, or a beginner, sets me up right.

7/ AI can grill me like I’m on shark tank

This one’s simple, but powerful.

I present my idea (for a business, or an article) to ChatGPT.

It grills it, shark tank style.

Example: I explained the idea for this newsletter, and asked it to poke some holes.

It gave me 4 excellent questions to test how much I had thought this through. that I then spent the entire conversation defending.

A replacement for humans? Surely not.

A great way to test if you’ve thought something through? You bet.

Hope this all helps.

If not, let me know. I won't take it TOO personally.

AI news that should interest you

1/ ChatGPT has an official, free app, and you should download it

Look, we both know that there’s two categories of apps on your phone.

Every app is an Instagram or a Delta Airlines. An Instagram is your go-to when that phone unlocks. A Delta Airlines app is the app that you only dust off every few months.

ChatGPT’s official app is comfortably in the first category. A first round draft pick from the App Store.

First of all...download it right now.

Second of all, try it out.

Unsure where to start? Throw that excuse out the window. I’ve got a fan-f***ing-tastic list of beginner prompts right above.

You already read them, right? Good. I’ll continue.

I’ve been using it in place of Google, to really test its limits. Today I asked how to tell if an egg is hard boiled. Here’s what I got back, condensed:

• (Useful) Spin it on the table

• (Not useful) See if the shell is hard and has no cracks

• (What) Crack the egg open and see

So, I got my answer, and also…a chuckle from my girlfriend when I suggested the third one.

Building that muscle of going to AI first will help you understand its limits.

In a year, you'll be thanking me. I promise.

2/ Seriously, don’t trust any photos on the internet

I’ll say it. The parents of the 2000s were right.

You shouldn’t believe everything you see on the internet.

Seems Wall Street forgot that lesson, because they got fooled on Monday. Hard.

An AI-generated image of an attack on the Pentagon made the rounds on Twitter. That caused financial markets to panic, and dip hard for a hot second.

Now, markets DID rebound.

But honestly…this is embarrassing.

Here’s the lesson.

If you don’t have time to look into whether something is real or not, assume it isn’t.

If you want to know if it’s real, look at the source. Don’t just rely on screenshots.

Let’s be better than wall street.

If you’re just scrolling, browse these

1/ AI fools a reporter into giving up their passport number. Link

2/ A free AI for personal finance. Link

3/ How one writer uses AI to make their writing even better. Link

4/ Wired tries to find out if Google’s AI is actually useful. Link

5/ ChatGPT. You should try it. Why haven’t you? Link

AI creates “Mona Lisa drawn by a five year old”

From Reddit

It’s a lot to keep up with, I know.

What’d you think?

Got feedback? I’d love to hear it. Hit me up on LinkedIn or Twitter.