Another AI Episode (But This One’s Actually Useful)-EP 255

The last six months I’ve been using AI to help me with everything from business negotiations to dealing with my kid’s pneumonia. It’s become a daily part of how I operate—at work and at home. The big difference between it and just googling is that you have a conversation with it.

Check out the video I made for my YouTube Channel, I Learned It on a Podcast!

What the Heck is AI Anyway?

If you’ve used ChatGPT or heard about it, you might still be wondering what it actually does. Wharton professor Ethan Mollick calls it “the world’s fanciest autocomplete.” Instead of just finishing one sentence, it can write full emails, answer complicated questions, or help you think through equipment problems.

Here’s the key difference: when you ask Google a question, you get a list of links. When you ask AI a question, you get a response—and then you can respond back. You’re having a conversation.

But you have to watch out—it can be completely wrong while sounding confident. I asked about health effects of eating eggs daily and got different answers depending on how I phrased it. It even sited a made up source! You have to stay sharp.

It Figures Stuff Out

The biggest shift is I’ve stopped Googling much. Instead of sorting through search results, I just ask AI and we work through problems together.

I’ve used it for oil stains on my pants—describing exactly how it happened, what cleaning supplies I have, when I can get to a washing machine. For business negotiations—discussing customer situations, to figuring out what to make for dinner, we discuss a game plan together. When I was lost at Frankfurt airport, I snapped a photo of German signs and uploaded it. ChatGPT told me exactly where to go like having a local guide.

The power isn’t in the first answer. It’s in the back-and-forth. AI asks follow-up questions I hadn’t thought of, suggests approaches I wouldn’t have considered. We figure things out together.

How You Get Good at Using AI

Don’t ask for one idea—ask for 200. Don’t ask for one way to write an email—ask for 30 variations and pick the best one.

This creates serendipity—lucky breaks that take projects in directions you didn’t expect. Recently, working with Claude on a video script, we went back and forth on different ways to explain AI’s value. Through that conversation, we landed on the perfect line: “It helps you figure shit out.”

I might have gotten there alone, but it would have taken a while. Together pretty quickly we found something that captured exactly what AI does in daily life.

My Creative Conflict

I’ll be honest. I sometimes feel conflicted using AI when I write. Sometimes it feels like having having a parent helping me with my homework who does too much. When Claude helps me write something polished that sounds like me, part of me thinks: “Did I actually write this?”

But here’s what I’ve realized: AI doesn’t replace the hard thinking. It removes friction. The ideas and judgment are still mine. It’s just easier now to get more ideas into the world. I think of it like jazz—sometimes it’s a trio with me, Claude, and ChatGPT all riffing together.

My Challenge to You

Spend 10 hours using AI for everything you ethically can in your business. Ask about pricing strategies, equipment decisions, customer communication challenges. But remember. It’s predicting patterns, not searching databases. When something doesn’t seem right, trust your instincts and double check.

Most importantly, don’t just ask one question and move on. Have the conversation. Ask for 50 ideas instead of 5. Push back when you disagree.

You’ll quickly discover what AI is surprisingly good at, and what it’s not ready for. More importantly, you’ll see how it changes the way you figure things out when you’re stuck.

Question: What’s your experience been with AI tools? Let me know in the comments.

For the original podcast that inspired my blog and video go to this link: Using AI to Think Better, Create More, and Live Smarter