Hello again from Camp Kotok in eastern Maine, where around 50 investors, economists, entrepreneurs, and other interesting people are discussing the world’s problems. As I mentioned before, there’s a lot of talk about artificial intelligence.
Prior to the gathering, Eric Hale of Trader Oasis organized an informal survey on AI, including one open-ended question about innovative ways people use AI. Eric condensed the attendees’ responses into a top 10 list, focused on how AI can improve workflows. I particularly like numbers 4, 5, and 10. Here’s the list:
Help AI get to know you. Keep a file of information about yourself and what you want from AI. Run it through the agent at the start of each session. Much better than starting from zero each time.
[Eric Hale shares some AI insights👇. Short and worth your time.]
Make it interview you. Tell the agent to ask you questions about what you’re looking for, until you feel it has gathered enough information.
Confirm your request. Before submitting a query, ask the AI to restate what it thinks you’re asking for. This can clear up misunderstandings and save wasted time.
[The AI boom is just beginning]
Tell the AI it can disagree with you. That’s a great way to stress-test your ideas. And much better than the pointless flattery AI often delivers.
Red-team your thesis. Related to No. 4. If you’re submitting some kind of analysis, ask it to identify holes in your logic and make a counterargument. If you seek criticism in the privacy of your AI, it might prevent some surprises when you go public.
Wall the garden. You don’t always have to let AI draw information from everything on the Internet, which can produce messy results. Sometimes you might want to limit the results to sources you’ve vetted or volumes you know you can trust.
Triage the reading pile. If your inbox features dozens of reports every week (or day), ask AI to read them first and guide you to what might be most interesting. One differentiator might be: Tell me what is actionable.
Ask again, in a different way. If you get a weak answer to a query, ask again using different language. If you get wildly different answers, you might have found a weakness in the reasoning. Triple check the info or keep it out of your final work.
Create a morning brief. Establish a daily task such as, “tell me what happened in overnight markets.” Refine the task with details and limitations until you get the info you need.
Take AI on the road. While driving, ask the mobile AI agent on your phone to tell you about the town you’re passing through, nearby landmarks, or anything else that might make your trip more interesting.
BONUS
Know your agent. Free versions of AI agents are more likely than paid versions to use the information you provide to train other AIs, which means your information is more likely to get around. Be careful with personal info and know what the AI might do with it.
Enjoy a cartoon.
You can order this cartoon👆 and play cartoon-themed puzzles and word games at CartoonStock.com.
Great list incldg the bonus item.
Liked 4, 5, and 8 in particular.
Excellent list.
It is Time for me to stop being a Luddite. It’s here. Like any tool, it can be used for ill or good.