Use AI to Think Better, Not Think for You

What you’ll learn

Use AI for routine work while keeping important decisions in your hands. Improve your prompts with examples, then use AI to quiz you and strengthen your understanding.

Key steps

1. 1

   Separate routine work from important judgment.

   List your tasks. Put formatting, internal emails, and similar work in a good-enough group. Keep decisions involving people, taste, and strategy in a group that deserves your attention.

2. 2

   Use DRAG for routine tasks.

   DRAG means Drafting, Research, Analysis, and Grunt work. For a first draft, give AI a role, your input, and a clear mission. Use it to summarize research, find patterns, or reformat information; review the result yourself.

3. 3

   Give examples before asking for a result.

   Start with one example of the style you want. For a stronger pattern, supply three or more examples of your work and ask AI to describe their shared tone and structure before drafting something new.

4. 4

   Ask for improvements and a clear explanation.

   Before rewriting a report, ask AI to identify three important improvements, explain why they matter, and suggest how to address each. For a larger task, specify the sequence: research a topic, compare findings, then draft a short memo. Check the sources and conclusions.

5. 5

   Use AI as a practice partner.

   Study a concept yourself first. Share the material and ask AI to quiz you. Increase the difficulty from school-level questions to college-level questions, then interview-style challenges. Try answering before asking for help.

6. 6

   Ask the basic questions you usually avoid.

   Choose something in your field you do not understand. Ask AI to explain it simply. If it is still unclear, ask for a simpler explanation again, then check your understanding against the original material.