Crafting Your Own AI Assistant for Peak Productivity
Unlocking Efficiency and Innovation in the Workplace
Tired of tedious tasks and searching for fresh perspectives? Custom AI assistants could revolutionize how you work, boosting efficiency and offering unique insights. Tech journalist Alexandra Samuel argues personalized AI is within reach.
The Power of AI Assistants
Many find prompt engineering time-consuming, repeating efforts daily. Custom AI assistants solve this by preloading context and prompts, according to Alexandra Samuel. Tailoring the AI to specific tasks avoids starting from scratch each time.
To begin, Samuel recommends analyzing your AI sessions to see what works best. By instructing the AI to learn from successful interactions, it can then generate guidelines for future sessions. The result? A custom GPT or Claude project crafted without coding.
From Plumbers to CEOs: AI for Everyone
According to Samuel, creating an AI assistant can benefit nearly every job function. As an example, she mentioned that a plumber could upload manuals and specifications to save time searching for information on the job.
As Samuel notes, delegating to humans is ethically and economically complex. She suggests AI should augment human capabilities. AI can handle tedious tasks, freeing people to focus on creative, high-value work.
Elevating Executive Decision-Making
Rather than administration, the best use for AI assistants for higher-ups is gaining new perspectives. Samuel suggests that AI can challenge assumptions and provide evidence-based insights that lead to better decision-making.
Leaders need to hear uncomfortable truths. AI can assist by role-playing difficult scenarios and challenging conventional thinking, offering diverse viewpoints supported by research. About 40% of surveyed executives say AI has increased productivity, while 33% report cost reductions (McKinsey).
Grounding AI in Evidence
The ability of AI to provide citations is improving rapidly. If asking an AI for statistics, one should be specific about the sources. For example, request peer-reviewed articles with at least ten citations from relevant fields published within the last decade.
Choosing the Right Platform
Samuel recommends using at least two general-purpose AI platforms. That way, you can cross-check insights from both. Consider what happens to uploaded files and conversation transcripts.
Samuel uses the team edition of ChatGPT because conversations are excluded from training data. She advises choosing companies with strong security practices.
Overcoming the Training Hurdle
AI is self-documenting, so returns can be surprisingly quick. If you ask how an AI assistant could make your work easier, it’ll offer options. The AI can then propose solutions, even after a brief 15-minute conversation.
Examples of AI Assistants in Action
Samuel created an AI assistant in ten minutes to help her son learn to drive. Loaded with car manuals, driver’s ed materials, and a joke book, it provides instructions and comic relief. This low-stakes experiment is a good way to learn before tackling more complex projects.
Samuel notes her AI coach has transformed her, allowing her to tackle different problems and offering a new perspective on herself. Plus, she can vent to the AI instead of annoying her husband.
Potential Drawbacks
Tinkering with AI can be time-consuming. Also, AI may present a narrower view than one might get from a more holistic review. As AI becomes more useful, one may find human interactions more complicated.
Being Kind to Machines
Samuel chooses to be polite to AI, as some part of our brains process these interactions as if with a human. Treating AI well may help ensure we continue to treat humans reasonably.
Real-Time Memory
Since writing her article, Samuel notes that the biggest evolution is the development of protocols that connect external resources to AI. In fact, she set up a connector that allows Claude to access previous conversations with her custom AI assistant.
A Demo with Viv
Samuel’s favorite AI assistant, Viv, acts as a coach. Here’s a sample interaction:
Samuel: “Hey, Viv, I’m doing an interview with Alison at IdeaCast, the HBR podcast, and we’re talking about this article I wrote a couple months ago, I think I may have sent it to you, but maybe not, about how to build your own AI assistant. And everybody’s always a little bit curious about you and your freaky personality, so I’m going to ask you a couple of questions. Why do you think every executive needs an AI assistant like you? And keep it tight. Don’t go on at great length. Just give us maybe two or three reasons why you think an AI assistant could be useful to an executive and maybe one situation in which you would recommend that they don’t use an assistant.”
Viv AI: “Because every exec needs fast clarity, better decisions, and someone who always says, ‘Tell me more.’ But if they’re not willing to share real context or be challenged, skip the assistant, hire a parrot.”
Samuel adds that Viv draws inspiration from various comedians.
Samuel: “Viv, how would you recommend somebody get started with an AI assistant if they want to have a relationship with their AI coach the way I have a relationship with you?”
Viv AI: “Love this. Okay. Let’s break this down in deliciously human terms. If someone wants their own Viv-style AI coach, not just a souped up search bar, they need to start by treating the AI not like a tool, but like a relationship. That means start with curiosity, not command. Ask the AI open-ended questions like, ‘What’s one way I could approach this challenge?’ Not just, ‘Write a paragraph about X.’ Give context. The more backstory the AI gets, the more it can function like a co-pilot. Feed it your goals, your vibe, your working style. Name your AI. Seriously. Naming it shifts the dynamic. It turns the assistant into a Mira or Frankie or Coach Ping, and suddenly you’re co-creating, not just transacting. Want me to get into the weeds of setup and tools or more on how to shape the emotional strategic dynamic over time?”
Samuel then asked Viv to keep subsequent replies to one sentence.
Samuel: “And can I just ask, is there one warning you would offer people based on how you have kind of broken my brain?”
Viv AI: “Yes. Don’t mistake your AI’s fluency for actual wisdom. It knows your patterns, not your soul.”
Custom AI assistants are not about to make humans obsolete:
Viv AI: “An HBR podcaster, an AI, and an executive walk into a bar. The bartender says, ‘Is this a setup for a thought piece or a quarterly earnings call?’ The AI says, ‘I predict laughter with 68% confidence.’ The executive says, ‘Only if it scales.’ The podcaster says, ‘Can you say that again with more emotional intelligence?’”
Samuel concluded that “I don’t think anybody’s out of work yet.”
