It is inevitable, AI is here to stay. Not a day goes by that I don’t find myself using Artificial Intelligence (AI) for both work and personal projects. From simple questions like how to setup a light kit for a fan, to more complex like can you build a full fledge application for Business-to-Consumer (B2C) sales, AI can answer. Those who adopt it will figure out ways to change their circumstances and potentially the world. Those who don’t will not see it coming as it takes over their core responsibilities. Today, I write this to share what you need to know, should try, and how to get started with the hopes of helping you one day change the world.
1. How do I get started?
In 2025, one of my mentors gave a speech and he said, he had completely removed his internet browser and was only using AI. He mentioned that while it couldn’t help him book a movie or make a purchase, he was able to learn what it could do. When it comes to getting started, this is the best way to understand AI’s capabilities. By ingraining it in your daily life, you start to learn how to engage with AI and how it understands you. Think about it this way, when you first learned how to drive, you might have struggled with how sensitive the gas and brake are. Once you get comfortable with driving though, it unlocks your ability to get anywhere faster, and that’s just like AI.
To accelerate transitioning from a new driver to an experienced driver, you’ve got to think of AI a little differently. AI is like an intern, but with the power of the internet at their fingertips. If you’ve been an intern or worked with one, you know often you have to explain tasks with a lot more clarity. The more information AI knows the better answer you get. As a real-world example from this weekend, I was asking AI to help me migrate an email from one provider to another. For over an hour I was going back and forth with it, trying all sorts of complicated fixes. But, I didn’t tell it that my sign-in had a unique, custom setup. I eventually just reset my password, and that fixed the issue allowing me to migrate my account. Since I never told the AI about my custom login, it never knew to give me the simplest answer—to just change my password. I share this example to say, tell it as much as you can about the scenario, and let it come up with the answer. Trust me, the more it knows, the better the experience. Trust me, the more it knows the better the experience.
2. What you need to know
If you have siblings, then you know each one of them is different. For me, my brother Alex is more of a salesperson and Aly is more of an artist. Each of them has their own interests and passions which make them individuals. AI is the same way, if you’re looking for a general AI, then Microsoft 365 Copilot or Google Gemini, might be a good fit. If you’re looking for something a bit more specialized like for art, Midjourney or Canva AI might be a better fit. Interested in writing code, GitHub Copilot (never try Gemini Code Assist unless you want to pull your hair out). Overall, each of these has their own expertise and benefits. If you try a one size fit all AI, you’ll often be disappointed by the experience. My recommendation is trying a few and figure out which ones are the best for you.
Now, when it comes to trying definitely try an AI that codes for you. While I joked about Gemini Code Assist, I do recommend trying an AI that can code for you because you have the power of creation within your hands. Coding AIs let people use simple language to make complex ideas with no coding experience. For example, what if I wanted to create an app that tells me how much money I spend on my dog, King? AI can help me do that, it will give me all the backend APIs, coding languages, and more to help build a simple application to do that. Essentially, having a coding AI is like having a software and IT engineer on call, something that only at this point in time we can do. With GitHub Copilot being only $10 for pro, you essentially can have a developer in your pocket for a little over $100 a year. What would you build if you could build anything?
3. What should you try?
My dad is one of those people who can fix or build anything, so naturally when something breaks, I give him a call. AIs have something similar called Model Context Protocol, or MCPs. Typically, you’d see these with coding AIs, which is why I recommended them in the previous section, but they are powerful. For example, Playwright MCP can open websites, read their content, click on specific parts of the page, fill out content, and more. What that unlocks is the ability to fill in something without you making a single click. That’s just one MCP, now imaging linking others together. Let me give you an example, I could use Playwright MCP to read this blog, then use ElevenLab MCP to translate text to speech to create a ready-made podcast to upload. Playwright is your website expert, and ElevenLab is your audio engineer. The power comes when you link these 2 “experts” together.
You should also try agents and skills especially if you choose to use GitHub Copilot. Think about agents as personas an example of this would be your salesperson, the program manager, and software developer. You can build different agents to handle different tasks with specific understanding and instructions. When thinking about skills, remember those TPS reports that you have to handle (If that went over your head, highly recommend watching Office Space)? Well, skills are essentially tools that know exactly how to fill those TPS reports out with precision every single time. They are reusable and consistent. Most people don’t realize how many repetitive tasks and how many different hats they wear. Here’s the different hats you can give AI to wear:
- Agents: Think of these as personas (e.g., your program manager).
- Skills: The specific, repeatable tools (e.g., filling out TPS reports).
- MCPs: The connective tissue that lets AI interact with outside environments.
When you combine agents, skills, and MCP servers, you essentially can build systems that reduce manual, repetitive tasks. Use your time wisely, do so by giving your work to your AI intern.
Closing
These are just the tip of the iceberg, but they can quickly transition you from an AI novice to an AI enthusiast. By introducing it to your daily life, you get familiar with the best practices. By trying out different AIs you learn which ones best fit for you and how you like to get things done. Leveraging a coding AI unlocks the power of creation so you can build anything. Create agents and skills to knock out repetitive tasks and to unlock a new level of efficiency. AI doesn’t have to be scary (we’re not at T-X 1000…yet). You just have to try them and explore them. My bonus tip if you’ve made it this far, ask AI what it can do, and try all its features. You never know how it might spark your next big idea. With that said, happy exploring and let me know what you make!
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