Hyper Entrepreneur Dispatch
7min. intro to AI
July 14, 2025
We keep hearing the same thing:
“I’ve played around with ChatGPT… but I still don’t know how to use it in a way that really helps my business”
Or…
“Can Midjourney actually create product photos for my brand?”
If that sounds like you, you’re not alone… and you’re not behind.
A lot of people are asking for the very fundamentals right now.
And the truth is, you don’t need to be an expert.
You don’t need to code.
And you definitely don’t need to catch up on every AI trend flying around.
What you do need is a simple understanding of how AI actually works behind the scenes… and a few practical ways to use it in your day-to-day life or work.
For example:
Writing better emails in half the time
Summarizing long documents or meeting notes
Brainstorming ideas for content, products, or offers
Automating tiny, time-consuming tasks you’re probably still doing manually
Once you get a feel for what AI can do, it becomes a lot easier to imagine how it can fit into what you already do, and how it can save you hours each week.
80% of Work Will Be AI-Assisted - Very Soon
In the next 1-2 years, 80% of what knowledge workers do will be AI-assisted in some way. That doesn’t mean AI will replace your job, but your job will be supported, enhanced, and in many cases transformed by AI tools.
AI isn’t something separate you go looking for.
It’s already being built into the tools you use every day:
ClickUp: Suggests tasks, writes docs, recaps meetings
Slack: Summarizes channels, answers questions
Google Docs (with Gemini): Drafts content, rewrites paragraphs
HubSpot: Automates emails, recommends next steps for leads
And this is just the beginning.
Every week, new AI tools and features roll out.
GPT-5 may be just around the corner.
We don’t know what jobs will look like 3-4 years from now, but we do know the people experimenting and learning now are the ones who will thrive.
AI Is Already Changing Everything
“The coming change will center around the most impressive of our capabilities: the phenomenal ability to think, create, understand, and reason. To the three great technological revolutions-the agricultural, the industrial, and the computational-we will add a forth: the AI revolution.”
-Sam Altman
AI is already changing how we work every day.
We communicate faster with tools like ChatGPT for writing and Fireflies for meeting summaries.
In sales, Lavender improves cold emails and HubSpot’s AI recommends smart follow-ups.
For learning, YouTube tools like Eightify break down long videos, while ChatGPT simplifies complex topics in seconds.
In hiring, platforms like HireVue run AI-powered interviews, and tools like Teal instantly tailor your resume to job listings.
And their capabilities go far beyond just writing.
These tools can now create across every medium: audio (tools like ElevenLabs can replicate your voice), video (Runway turns text prompts into short videos), images (Midjourney creates stunning, photorealistic visuals with consistent styles), and code (GitHub Copilot writes and suggests code as you build).
Let’s take a look at Midjourney, for example.
Back when V1 launched in 2022, the images were creative but a bit rough, more like digital art than something you'd actually use.
Now, just a couple years later, it can produce photorealistic product shots that look like they came straight out of a professional jewelry catalog.
The progress has been fast and pretty incredible.
With text, the improvement has been huge.
In most versions before V6, writing ended up as mostly gibberish.
Now, it can produce clear, readable text that looks like a real photo.
So, What Is AI?
At its core, artificial intelligence (AI) is a system that learns from massive amounts of data to make predictions, generate outputs, or solve problems. It doesn’t “think” like a human, it recognizes patterns.
Think of it like this:
Netflix recommends shows because it notices what people like you tend to watch next.
Spotify builds playlists based on what songs you skip or repeat.
Email apps now suggest replies or summarize long messages.
Most modern AI works by recognizing these kinds of patterns and predicting what’s likely to come next.
And the tools that power all this? Those are called AI models.
An AI model is like a recipe a computer follows to spot patterns in data and make smart guesses.
Machine learning means the computer learns from examples instead of being told exactly what to do.
A powerful type of this is deep learning, which uses layered systems called neural networks.
Large Language Models (LLMs) are deep learning models trained on tons of text, so they can understand and generate language, like answering questions or writing emails.
In Summary:
AI = The umbrella concept of machines doing things that normally need human intelligence, like understanding language, recognizing images, or making decisions.
Machine Learning = A way AI learns from data.
LLMs = Deep learning models trained to understand and generate human language.
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and More
These advanced language models let you generate text, summaries, ideas, emails, and even code based on your input.
Each has unique strengths, some are better at creative writing, others at fact-based answers or coding help.
ChatGPT is great for general writing, business tasks, and learning.
Claude is known for reading long documents or being more thoughtful.
Gemini works well inside the Google ecosystem, like helping draft a slide deck right inside Google Slides.
Perplexity is excellent for research: it searches the web in real time and cites sources.
Others specialize in coding, creativity, data analysis, or even legal writing.
By testing out a few, you’ll learn when to use each one.
Why Clear Instructions Matter
When people say “prompting”, what they really mean is: giving clear, structured instructions.
Get the most out of ChatGPT with these simple tips:
✍️ 7 Tips for Writing a Strong Prompt
1. Be Specific About the Output
“Take this idea and write a 3-line Facebook post with a bold hook and emojis.”
2. Give It a Role or Persona
“You're a professional copywriter and productivity expert.”
3. Provide Examples or a Knowledge File
“Use my tone based on these 5 marketing posts. Stay brief, clear, and motivational.”
4. Add Constraints
“Add a CTA at the end. Don’t use ‘DM me.’ Include 3 tweet versions after the post.”
5. Describe the Audience and Intent
“This is for busy entrepreneurs who struggle with time management. Goal: make them feel seen and click the Calendly link.”
6. Break Big Prompts into Smaller Steps
Start with:
“List 10 hook angles.”
Then:
“Expand hook #3 into a short intro paragraph.”
7. Use Prompt Shortcuts
If you find a prompt that nails it, save it. Turn it into a repeatable formula or template - or even a custom GPT.
Inside ChatGPT, you can create your own Custom GPT: a version of the chatbot that sounds and thinks more like you. You can upload 5 to 10 examples of your best marketing copy, and it will use those as a reference. Then, anytime you need new content, the chatbot can write in your exact tone.
Examples of GPTs you can create:
A brand voice GPT that writes exactly like you.
A customer service assistant that answers FAQs in your tone.
A brainstorming partner for product names, content ideas, or marketing angles.
A resume rewriter that tailors your experience to a job description.
You Don’t Have to Code to Automate
Here’s where it gets exciting: You can start automating real tasks, without knowing how to code.
Tools like Zapier and Make let you connect your favorite apps (like Gmail, Notion, Slack, Google Sheets, or Trello) to AI tools.
For example:
Use ChatGPT to summarize daily customer feedback emails and post it to Slack.
Turn spreadsheet data into AI-generated monthly reports in Notion.
Create social media captions automatically from blog posts.
Let’s take a simple, everyday example: managing your inbox.
You set up a quick automation using Zapier, ChatGPT, and Google Docs: whenever you label an email in Gmail as “To Reply,” Zapier sends the email content to ChatGPT with a prompt like “Write a friendly, professional response,” and the reply gets automatically drafted into a Google Doc for you to review or edit later.
This is how you can set up a simple workflow that saves you time and gets you to inbox zero faster.
You’ll start by saving 15 minutes a day.
Eventually, you can build entire automated workflows that run while you sleep.
What’s Your AI Learning Journey?
Where are you in all of this?
Whether you’re just starting or already testing tools, most people fit into one (or more) of these paths:
“I want to understand how AI works.”
“I want to discover real use cases and tools.”
“I want to boost productivity, creativity, and performance.”
“I want to lead AI change inside my organization.”
“I want to grow my career with AI.”
That starts with applying what you're learning in ways that help you grow, add value, and stand out in your career.
If You’ve Read This Far, You’ve Already Started
Here’s the truth: most people still aren’t using AI at all.
Not because they can’t, but because they don’t know where to begin.
But now you do.
And just by playing around with a few tools and trying a couple small automations, you’ll be ahead of 95% of people.
The key isn’t mastering AI. It’s getting curious, exploring what it can do for you, and using it to enhance what you already know and do best.