Saving Time and Boosting Productivity with AI - Series

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AI curiosity is booming, and experimentation is flourishing across industries. While concerns around model accuracy and security guardrails for proprietary data are critical topics, this article focuses on a simple yet powerful assertion: AI tools are evolving rapidly, proving to be invaluable time-saving and productivity aids.

A Simple Yet Powerful Use Case

Imagine you're preparing for a C-suite presentation and need to consolidate a large volume of information into a single, digestible slide. Manually, this would take hours—reading, highlighting key data, structuring it into a matrix, and formatting it in your preferred presentation tool. Factor in daily responsibilities or distractions, and this task might never get completed.

With AI, you can accomplish this in three easy steps:

1. Choose Your AI Model – In this example, I used Claude AI by Anthropic.

2. Provide Your Data Source – I used the article 321 real-world gen AI use cases from the world's leading organizations shared by our CTO, Nael Alismail.

3. Prompt the Model – I asked first for a summary, and then a matrix. Claude structured the data by Industry and Function, listing relevant AI use cases and companies.
   

Delivering the Final Output

To integrate the AI-generated table into your presentation:

• Copy and paste the table into your presentation tool. 

• I’ve found PowerPoint more readily accepts a table copied from a web page. From there I can paste into Google Slides.

• Alternatively, try asking for a .txt file formatted for Excel, and go from there.

Here’s how my table turned out, with minimal formatting after the fact:

Total time spent: 30-45 minutes. A fraction of the time it would take manually!

Four Tips for Effective AI Use

1. Master Prompting – Clear, specific prompts yield better results.

2. Refine as Needed – If the output isn’t ideal, adjust your prompt (in our use case -  fewer rows/columns, different axis orientation, etc.).

3. Compare Models – ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini may produce different results - explore to find the best fit.

4. Experiment – Don’t let tedious tasks slow you down. AI can optimize your workflow and free up time for strategic work. 

This is just one example of AI’s productivity potential. Stay tuned for more insights in this series!