I Didn’t Know Where to Start With AI Either

My feed was full of articles about the potential of generative AI. I felt a vague sense that I should be using it, but I had no idea where to start. I didn’t want to create code with it - I like writing code. And there was the obvious fear that it might do it better.

If AI is giving you imposter syndrome, my previous post is for you. This one is a bit more practical.

After watching and reading a number of opinions, I found a position that worked for me: offload the less fun parts of the job to AI, so I could spend more time on the interesting things. There’s certainly a lot you can do with it, but here are a few problems you might encounter in your day to day that AI is useful at solving.

Take On a Research Assistant

More time than I’d like to admit is spent trawling the internet. Either trying to find the answer to a problem or hunting for supporting evidence for the answer I’ve already arrived at. It’s not easy. The information might be buried in a support thread or a GitHub issue and pulling it all together can be a huge time sink.

What if I didn’t have to?

AI excels at collating data - pulling together multiple sources, organising them, drawing conclusions. My first forays were simply using Google’s AI mode to find information on very specific problems. More targeted than a standard search, and considerably faster than piecing together a picture from a dozen different tabs.

But it’s not only problems I search for - it’s solutions too. When approaching something entirely new, I used to research possible approaches, evaluate the pros and cons, and work out what fit my context. It worked, but it was slow. Now I have that conversation with AI instead. I describe the problem, the constraints, and work through the options. It doesn’t decide the solution; it gives me the information to make the choice.

Clear the Blank Page

I’ve always been intimidated by a blank page. I know what I need to say, but I don’t know where to start. AI has helped me get over that hurdle many times. I ramble out a stream of consciousness with all the points I need to make, and it turns it into something coherent and identifies the missing pieces. Once I’ve got the shape of it, I can take it from there. Refine the parts missing context, fill in the gaps, bring in my knowledge and experience. The AI draft is just the starting point.

It’s not just documentation that can benefit. I was building out a UML class diagram for a data model. To help plan the implementation, and as a reference for anyone joining the project later. Building it by hand was time consuming and tedious. I wondered if I could feed in some sample JSON and ask AI to generate it. After a couple of prompts, I had the UML. It worked.

Writing documentation isn’t glamorous, but you feel its absence when you need it. It’s often set aside because it can easily eat up a developer’s time. It was a necessity I’d always accepted and never considered if there was another way. Now there is.

Close the Gaps

Not every project will have a clear brief. Perhaps it’s speculative work, a proof of concept, a brand-new product, or the client hasn’t quite refined their vision for the end result. Going from clearly defined use cases and acceptance criteria to vague requirements - especially if you don’t have a lot of experience in the product space - can be pretty overwhelming.

Use cases and acceptance criteria are crucial to project delivery. They give a clear vision of the expected outcome, inform implementation approaches and test strategies. But building those from scratch takes time, and there will be a lot of unknowns.

I wondered if AI could help me get something workable quickly. Something to give us initial guidance that we could then refine and figure out what questions needed to be asked. I gave it the vague requirements, descriptions of the stakeholders, and it gave me some use cases. It wasn’t perfect - it only considered the happy path - but I knew what good use cases looked like, so I could build on it.

If you’re the sort of person who needs help getting started, or there’s a gap you don’t quite have the skills to close yet, maybe AI can give you a little boost.

Learn on Your Own Terms

I used to struggle in school. The teaching methods of the time didn’t really fit the way my brain worked. I always found it easier to learn by myself, following the threads that interested me, rather than a strict curriculum. As an adult, I can never finish tutorials that touch the surface of a topic - it’s depth I’m after. What I really need is a coach that can work with me, tolerate a million questions, and show me where to find the answer instead of just telling me.

Surprisingly, AI has been a very useful coach. I explained my desire to learn React and my learning style, and it pointed me towards resources to start with. When I went off on tangents, it would direct me towards the answers - asking thoughtful questions to confirm my understanding rather than just handing them over. Self-directed learning can be difficult. Having something give a little direction makes it so much easier.

I need context to really understand a topic. Reading and cross-referencing multiple texts to build that context is a daunting task - and this is where NotebookLM comes in. You can upload your learning material and have NotebookLM do that cross-referencing, becoming an expert source on exactly the topic you’re interested in. Every response cites its sources too, which takes away much of the hallucination risk that makes AI feel unreliable.

If you struggle with self-directed learning, or standard teaching approaches have never quite fit, try building your own personal AI tutor.

What’s Your Problem?

I never really planned to adopt AI. I was curious about this new technology but didn’t know what it could do for me. Many software products emerge to solve a problem, and that’s where I started - problems that were taking my time away from the really interesting stuff, that prompted the question: “I wonder if this works?”

If you don’t know where to start, look at your frustrations. The tasks that drain your time and passion, the blank page that intimidates you. The boring, unglamorous bits of the job that need to be done but are never as exciting as building something new.

Your colleagues and seniors should always be your first port of call. AI can fill a gap when no one else is available, you’re the subject matter expert, or someone needs to close the gap and this time it’s you. It’s there to supplement the talented people around you, not replace them.

And you don’t need to subscribe to anything to find out. Many AI tools have generous free tiers. Try a few, see what works for you, pick your favourite - or use them all.

What pain points do you think AI might help with? Is there a use case I haven’t mentioned?