I am GPTed - what you need to know about Chat GPT, Bard, Llama, and Artificial Intelligence

[Intro music fades in, then under]Hey, it’s Mal – the Misfit Master of AI – and this is “I Am GPTed,” the show where we skip the buzzwords, bully the hype a little, and actually get useful with AI.Let’s fix one simple thing today that will instantly make ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok – all of them – way less useless.### 1. One specific prompting techniqueThe technique is this: **“Show, then ask.”** Give a **clear example** of what you want *before* you ask for it.Bad version first:> “Write a friendly email to a client about a project delay.”That gets you a beige, corporate oatmeal email.Now the “show, then ask” version:> “Here’s the style I like: > ‘Hey Sam, quick heads-up – we’re running a bit behind on the new feature. No one’s slacking; we just hit a couple of surprise speed bumps. I’ll send you a concrete update by Thursday, and if that timeline doesn’t work, we’ll adjust together.’ > > Using that style – casual, honest, no fluff – write an email to a client explaining our website redesign is delayed by one week.”Same request, but now the AI has a **pattern** to copy. Result: less robot lawyer, more actual human.Use this with anything: emails, lesson plans, ad copy, meeting agendas, even birthday speeches. Show one, then ask.### 2. A practical use case you might not have consideredHere’s a sneaky everyday use: **turn AI into your personal “meeting de-bullshifier.”**After a meeting, drop in your notes or the transcript and say:> “Summarize this like I’m a busy person who doesn’t care about politics. > Give me: > 1) What was actually decided > 2) Who owns what > 3) Deadlines > 4) Risks no one wanted to say out loud.”Now you’ve got a clean action list instead of a 14‑page “circle back” festival. You can do this for school group projects, PTA meetings, or that weekly status call where nothing happens except people reading slides at you.### 3. One common beginner mistakeCommon mistake: **treating AI like Google.**Typing: > “Marketing ideas?” > “Fix my career?” > “Make my life easier?”…then being shocked when the answer is generic nonsense.I did this too. My first prompt ever was literally: > “Explain AI.”The model gave me a polite Wikipedia impersonation and I thought, “Wow, this thing is overrated.” It wasn’t. **My prompt was.**Fix it by adding three things:- **Context** – who you are and what you’re doing - **Goal** – what “good” looks like - **Constraints** – length, tone, formatFor example: > “I’m a project manager in a small marketing team. My goal is to reduce meeting time by 25%. Suggest 5 concrete changes to how we run meetings. Keep each idea under 3 sentences and focus on things I can implement this week.”Way better than “meeting tips?”### 4. A simple practice exerciseHere’s a quick exercise to build your AI skills – takes 10 minutes:1. Pick one boring task you do weekly: emails, reports, lesson plans, LinkedIn posts, whatever. 2. Write your **normal** prompt for it. 3. Ask the AI: > “Rewrite my prompt to make it clearer and more specific. Then explain what you changed and why.” 4. Use the improved prompt. 5. Compare the old result vs. the new one.You’re literally using the AI as a **prompt coach**. Do this a few times and your future prompts get sharper automatically.### 5. A tip for evaluating and improving AI outputWhen the AI gives you something, don’t ask “Do I like it?” Ask: **“What’s missing?”**Then respond with:> “This is close. Improve it by: > - Making it more specific with concrete examples > - Removing filler language > - Shortening it by 30% > - Highlighting the 3 most important points at the top in bullets.”Treat the first answer as **draft zero**, not gospel. Two or three rounds of “What’s missing? Now fix that” usually takes you from “meh” to “I’d actually send this.”Alright, that’s it for today’s dose of practical AI with just enough sarcasm to keep us honest.If this helped you, **subscribe to the podcast** so you don’t miss future episodes.**Thanks for listening.**This has been a **Quiet Please** production. You can learn more at **quietplease dot ai**.For more check out https://www.quietperiodplease.com/and for some great deals go to https://amzn.to/4nidg0PThis content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

Hey, it’s Mal, the Misfit Master of AI, and you’re listening to “I am GPTed” – the show where we turn buzzwords into things you can actually use before your next coffee gets cold.Let’s get straight into it.---Today we’re doing five things:1. One prompting technique 2. One sneaky everyday use case 3. One very common beginner mistake 4. A quick practice exercise 5. A tip to judge whether the AI just helped you… or confidently wasted your time### 1. One prompting technique: “Role + Result + Rules”If you remember nothing else, remember this: **Role, Result, Rules.**Bad prompt:> “Write an email to my boss about a project delay.”You’ll get something like:> “Dear Sir/Madam, unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances…” Corporate beige. Useless.Better prompt:> “You are a **project manager** who is calm but direct. > **Result:** Write a short email to my boss about a project delay of 3 days. > **Rules:** > - Take responsibility, but don’t overshare blame > - Suggest a plan to get back on track > - Keep it under 150 words > - No buzzwords, plain language.”Same AI, totally different brain. You gave it:- A **role** (how to think) - A **result** (what to produce) - **Rules** (how to shape it)Use this format with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, whoever. They all understand “Role + Result + Rules” better than your last manager understood you.---### 2. Practical use case you probably haven’t triedUse AI as your **“meeting de-bloater.”**Paste in your messy meeting notes or a transcript and say:> “You are a **concise chief of staff**. > Turn these notes into: > - 5 bullet-point decisions > - 5 bullet-point action items by person > - 3 risks I should flag to my manager in one paragraph. > If anything is ambiguous, list it in a separate ‘Questions’ section.”Suddenly, instead of staring at 7 pages of “random talking,” you’ve got a one-page brief and a to-do list. That’s not futuristic AI magic; that’s just useful.---### 3. Common beginner mistake (that I made too)Beginner mistake: **One-shot, vague prompts.** “I tried AI, it wasn’t good.” Yeah, you typed one sentence and expected it to read your mind. I did this too.I used to type: > “Make me a content plan for my podcast.”Then I’d complain it was generic.Fix: **treat it like a draft partner, not a vending machine.**Start with:> “Draft a simple content plan for a weekly beginner-friendly AI podcast. > Then ask me 5 clarifying questions before finalizing it.”When it asks questions, answer them, then say:> “Now rewrite the plan using those answers.”You’re not “bad at prompts.” You’re just stopping after the first try. So did I. Don’t.---### 4. Simple practice exerciseDo this once a day for a week:1. Pick a small task: email, caption, explanation, plan. 2. Write your **best guess** prompt. 3. After the answer, say: > “Critique my prompt. Rewrite it to get a better result next time.” 4. Use that improved prompt on a similar task tomorrow.You’re basically turning the AI into your **prompt coach**. In 7 days, you’ll be miles ahead of people still typing “make it better.”---### 5. How to evaluate and improve AI outputUse my lazy three-question test:1. **Is anything obviously wrong or made up?** If yes, fix your prompt to add constraints: > “Only use information from the text I provided. If you’re unsure, say you’re unsure.”2. **Is this usable in the real world as-is?** If not, say: > “Make this 50% shorter and more concrete. Replace vague advice with numbered steps.”3. **Does it sound like *me*?** If not: > “Rewrite this in my voice: casual, clear, slightly sarcastic, no buzzwords.”Never accept the first draft as final. Think of AI as the intern who works fast but needs editing.---Alright, that’s it for today’s episode of “I am GPTed” with me, Mal, your Misfit Master of AI who is just barely more organized than your browser tabs.If this helped, **subscribe to the podcast** so your future self doesn’t have to rediscover all this the hard way.**Thanks for listening.**This has been a **Quiet Please** production. You can learn more at **quietplease dot ai**.For more check out https://www.quietperiodplease.com/and for some great deals go to https://amzn.to/4nidg0PThis content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

**I Am GPTed** *Theme music fades in – upbeat, quirky synth with a glitchy AI beep* Hey there, misfits and AI newbies, welcome to **I Am GPTed**, where I, Mal – the Misfit Master of AI, or just Mal for short – dish out practical tips on wrangling ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and whatever LLM the tech bros dream up next. No fluff, no hype, just stuff that actually works. Because let's face it, I'm still figuring this out too, and if I can hack it, so can you. Today, we're diving into prompts that don't suck. First up: **Chain of Thought prompting**. It's like telling your buddy to think out loud instead of blurting nonsense. Tech hype says it's magic; really, it's just making the AI show its homework so you spot the dumb mistakes. Before example: "How do I fix my leaky faucet?" AI spits back a vague list, and you're still flooded. After: "How do I fix a leaky faucet? Think step by step: diagnose the type of leak, tools needed, safety first, then steps." Boom – it walks you through shutoff valve, washer swap, like a plumber who's not charging $200 an hour. Try it; your pipes – and prompts – will thank you. Practical use case for us normies? **Grocery planning on a budget**. Don't just ask "Meal plan for a week." Say: "I'm a busy parent, $100 budget, two kids who hate veggies. Chain of thought: list cheap proteins, hide veggies creatively, total under $100." Suddenly, AI spits out taco nights with blended spinach no one notices. Saved my sanity last week – and yeah, I ate the tacos. Common beginner mistake? **Vague prompts**. I did this for months: "Write a blog post." Got garbage. Avoid it by being bossy with specifics – role, tone, length, examples. I admit, I once prompted Grok for "dating advice" like a desperate teen. It told me to "be myself." Duh. Now I say: "You're a sarcastic wingman. Give 5 texts for asking out a barista without sounding creepy." Way better. Build skills with this simple exercise: Pick a boring task, like "email your boss." Chain-of-thought it: "Step 1: State purpose. Step 2: Key facts. Step 3: Call to action. Draft as helpful assistant." Tweak the output. Do three a day; you'll prompt like a pro by Friday. Last tip: Evaluating AI junk? **Reverse engineer it**. Ask: "Critique this as a picky editor: strengths, weaknesses, fixes." Or rate it 1-10 on accuracy, creativity, usefulness. If it's meh, feed back: "Make it punchier, less wordy." Iterate till it's gold. No more settling for robo-blah. That's your toolkit, folks – practical, no PhD required. If the tech overlords say it's revolutionary, it's probably just common sense. Subscribe now so you don't miss me mocking the next AI fad. Thanks for listening! This has been a Quiet Please production – head to quietplease.ai for more. Catch you next time, misfits. *Outro music swells – fade to glitchy beep* (Word count: 498)For more check out https://www.quietperiodplease.com/and for some great deals go to https://amzn.to/4nidg0PThis content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

[Intro music fades in, then under]Hey, it’s Mal – the Misfit Master of AI – and this is “I Am GPTed,” the show where we turn buzzword soup into something you can actually use… like lunch. A weird, digital lunch.Today I’m giving you one simple prompting technique, a sneaky real‑life use case, a mistake I personally keep making, a quick practice exercise, and a fast way to clean up the AI’s mess before you hit send.Let’s get to it.---So, one prompting technique that instantly improves your results: **role plus format plus constraints**.Translation: tell the AI **who** to be, **what shape** you want the answer in, and **the rules** it has to follow.Here’s the lazy, “before” version:> “Explain blockchain.”Every model on earth will now send you a 700‑word Wikipedia tribute.Here’s the upgraded “after” version:> “You are a patient high‑school teacher. Explain blockchain to a 15‑year‑old who hates math. Use a real‑world money analogy, keep it under 150 words, and end with one sentence: ‘If you remember one thing, remember this: …’”Same topic, totally different vibe. You’ve told it:- Role: patient high‑school teacher - Format: short explanation plus one final sentence - Constraints: teen, hates math, real‑world analogy, 150 words You can do this in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok – they all respond better when you stop mumbling and actually give them a job description.---Now, a practical use case beginners usually don’t think about: **being your “second brain” for boring recurring messages.**Not presentations. Not novels. I’m talking about those awkward, repetitive things:- “Sorry, I’m declining this meeting but still trying to sound like a team player.”- “Following up without sounding desperate.”- “Reminding the client they owe us money… politely.”Try this:> “You are my polite but assertive email assistant. Rewrite this follow‑up so it’s friendly, confident, and under 80 words. Keep my tone casual, no corporate clichés. Here’s my draft: [paste your mess].”You’re not asking the AI to be you. You’re asking it to be your **editor with social skills**.---Common beginner mistake time – and yes, I do this too: **asking once and accepting the first answer like it’s sacred scripture.**I still catch myself doing this:I type a vague prompt, get a meh answer, sigh, and think, “Guess the AI just isn’t good at this.”No. I wasn’t good at asking.Instead of giving up, respond to the AI like this:> “This is too generic. Make it more specific to [my industry / my situation], add 3 concrete examples, and cut the fluff.”Or:> “You missed the part about [X]. Rewrite it and focus mainly on that.”Treat it like an **iterative conversation**, not a vending machine. If the first answer is bad, that’s not the ending – that’s the first draft.---Here’s a simple exercise to build your AI skills – takes five minutes:1. Pick a tiny task: summarize a page of text, write a short email, or plan a 3‑item shopping list dinner. 2. Write your **first** prompt quickly. Run it. 3. Now write **version two** of the prompt using role + format + constraints. Run that. 4. Compare the two answers and ask: - What did the better one have that the first prompt didn’t? - Did I say who it should be? What format I wanted? Any limits?Do this once a day for a week. You’ll accidentally become “that AI person” in your office, just from being slightly less vague than everyone else.---Finally, a tip for evaluating and improving AI‑generated content so you don’t copy‑paste yourself into disaster.Use this three‑question checklist:1. **True?** Ask the AI: > “List any claims in your answer that might be incorrect or need a source.” If it suddenly gets shy, you know where to double‑check.2. **Useful?** Ask: > “Rewrite this to be more practical for someone who is [your role] with [your constraint: no time, low budget, beginner, etc.]. Add concrete steps.” 3. **Yours?** End with: > “Now simplify this into my voice: casual, clear, and direct. Short sentences. No buzzwords.” Then you still tweak it. AI gives you clay; you sculpt, even just a little.---That’s it for today’s dose of “I Am GPTed” with me, Mal, your misfit guide to making ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and the rest actually earn their electricity bill.Subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss future episodes – or at least so I can pretend you didn’t.Thanks for listening.This has been a Quiet Please production. To learn more, head over to quietplease dot ai.For more check out https://www.quietperiodplease.com/and for some great deals go to https://amzn.to/4nidg0PThis content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

[Intro music fades in, then under]This is “I Am GPTed,” I’m your host Mal – the Misfit Master of AI, here to help you talk to robots without feeling like you need a PhD… or a ring light.Today we’re going to fix one of the biggest problems people have with tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, all of them: you type something in, it spits something out, and you go, “That’s… not what I meant at all.” So let’s walk through one simple prompting technique, a sneaky use case you probably haven’t tried, a mistake you are absolutely making, a quick practice exercise, and a way to judge whether the AI just gave you gold… or recycling.---First up: **the prompting technique** – I call it *“Do it, then fix it.”* Instead of asking for perfection in one shot, you ask the AI to give you a rough draft, then immediately tell it how to improve it.Before: “Write a professional email to my boss about needing tomorrow off.” You get: stiff, generic, possibly written by a 1998 fax machine.After: “Write a casual but respectful email to my boss asking for tomorrow off. Step 1: Give me a short rough draft. Step 2: I’ll give feedback. Step 3: Rewrite it based on my feedback.”Then you say: “Too formal, shorter, and mention I’ve already cleared my tasks.” Now the AI rewrites with your preferences baked in. Same model, same brain, wildly better output because you *iterated* instead of begging for magic.---Practical use case you probably haven’t tried: **decision comparison.**Instead of “Which laptop should I buy?”, try: “I’m choosing between these three laptops: [list]. Make a table comparing them for: price, battery, weight, and what matters most for someone who travels a lot and does video calls all day. Then recommend one and explain why in plain English.”Boom: instant, transparent pros and cons. It’s like having that one nerdy friend who loves specs, without having to buy them pizza.---Common beginner mistake: **one-and-done prompts.** You fire off a vague question, get a vague answer, sigh, and decide AI is overrated. I did this for weeks. My early prompts were basically: “Explain AI.” That’s not a prompt, that’s a cry for help.Fix it by treating AI like a *conversation*, not a vending machine. If the first answer is off, follow up: “Less technical.” “Give an example from everyday life.” “Now explain like I’m 12.” Every follow-up is a free upgrade. Use it.---Simple exercise to build your AI muscles: **the “three passes” drill.**Pick one small task – say, writing a message to a client, or planning a workout.Pass 1: “Draft a quick message to my client explaining I’ll deliver their report on Friday instead of Thursday. Keep it friendly and confident.” Pass 2: “Now shorten it by 30% and make it a bit more casual.” Pass 3: “Now give me one alternative version with a slightly more formal tone.”Read all three. Notice which one *feels* right. You’re training two things: giving clearer instructions, and recognizing what “good” looks like for you.---Tip for evaluating and improving AI-generated content: **check it like you’d check a co-worker’s work on their first week.**Ask yourself five questions:1. Is anything obviously wrong or made up?2. Is the tone right for the person who’ll read this?3. Is anything missing that I *know* should be there?4. Is anything extra that I don’t need?5. Can I ask the AI to fix this in one line?Then give it a punchy follow-up: “Great start. Now: - simplify the language, - remove any fluff, - and add one concrete example.”You don’t rewrite it yourself; you *manage* it. You’re the boss, the AI is the intern with infinite coffee.---If this helped you feel 2% less lost in AI land, do the traditional podcast ritual: **subscribe to “I Am GPTed”** so you don’t miss future episodes.Thanks for listening – I’m Mal, the Misfit Master of AI, and this has been a Quiet Please production.To learn more, head over to **quietplease dot ai**.For more check out https://www.quietperiodplease.com/and for some great deals go to https://amzn.to/4nidg0PThis content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI