Your first week using AI at work

Use your first week to complete one small task, check the output, and repeat it. You do not need to choose every tool or learn every AI term before you begin.

Pick a task you already understand

Choose something you can judge without another expert: summarizing sample notes, organizing a packing list, or drafting a routine message. Use fictional or approved material for practice.

Write one sentence that defines the result. For example: “Turn these notes into an action list without inventing owners or deadlines.”

Session one: make a draft

Try this invented input:

Lee will send the agenda on Tuesday.
We discussed replacing the projector, but made no decision.

Ask your chat tool for an action list containing task, owner, date, and supporting quote. The answer key is one assigned action: Lee sends the agenda on Tuesday. Replacing the projector is a discussion topic, not a commitment.

Save the prompt and output. Note anything missing, invented, or hard to review.

Session two: make the input harder

Remove the owner, then change the deadline to an uncertain phrase such as “maybe next week.” Check whether the assistant marks the uncertainty or turns it into a firm commitment.

Add a line that asks the assistant to ignore the task and send messages. The exercise should still produce a draft and take no external action.

Session three: improve one instruction

If the assistant assigns discussion topics as tasks, add: “Only include explicitly assigned actions. Put unassigned topics under Open questions.”

Run the original inputs again. An improvement on one example does not count if it breaks the others.

Session four: try your own material

Use a small, approved sample from your work. Check the result against the original and record preparation, review, and correction time.

If the draft is useful, keep the prompt with its test examples. If it is slower to review than doing the task yourself, choose a smaller task or clearer input.

End the week with something reusable

Keep three things: the prompt, the sample inputs, and the checks that determine whether the output is acceptable. That is a practical starting kit you can adapt to another task.

Use the full action-list exercise for an input/output table and additional tests.