Choosing AI Tools That Work for You: A Step-by-Step Guide
AI FOMO is real, but trying to keep up with every update? Unrealistic and unnecessary.
I’m pretty sure I hear and see the term AI more than twenty times per day. Whenever I open LinkedIn, someone is explaining the latest cool stuff that AI does, ways to give better prompts, or a list of must-try AI tools. As grateful as I am to these people who comb through vast amounts of information to give valuable insights, it can become overwhelming. The truth is, you don’t need to use every AI tool that’s out there. You need to find the ones that align with your role/project.
So, here I am with this article. Based on my journey, I have created a step-by-step process. I have focused on a side project I’ve been thinking about for some time. You can just replicate the same steps for your role/project.
1. List Your Goals and Challenges
Say you want to begin a project. Make a list of your goals and challenges specific to that project. Here's an example below:
My Goals:
I want to create an article series on LinkedIn
Focus more on gaining knowledge
I want to repurpose my existing personal content into engaging LinkedIn posts/other formats
I want to post regularly on LinkedIn
Make the efforts involved in post creation—like formatting, editing, and title creation—less daunting.
Post updates about the article before publishing it to generate interest and keep myself accountable.
My Challenges:
I’m uncomfortable using my work or personal Gmail address to sign up for AI tools.
As much as I like writing articles, I hesitate to start because I get tired just thinking about promoting them, which causes me to postpone article creation.
I tend to overthink posting on LinkedIn and which timings would work best.
I want to experiment with video creation.
I have so many thoughts racing through my head that it gets overwhelming, making it hard to write them down. I get stuck in a limbo.
2. Map Requirements to Each Goal and Challenge
For each goal and challenge, come up with ideas or tools that would make it a bit easier or less tiring. Just write what you think you need. Not every requirement needs to be AI-related.
Here’s mine:
Goals and Requirements
Challenges and Requirements
3. Discover Tools Specific to Your AI-Related Requirements
For the AI-related requirements, think about what might help you and write them down. Then, it’s time to research. You can use a combination of:
Google
AI tool directories like AI Tool Hub, There’s an AI for that
AI itself (maybe start with ChatGPT)
4. Test These Tools at Your Pace
The list of tools is ready. Time to sign up, experiment with prompts, and decide if they work for you.
I know the importance of giving good prompts for better results. I wanted to learn briefly about prompt crafting and found a great YouTube video. I decided to test NoteGPT to summarize that video and generate a mindmap.
The text summary was basic. The mindmap was decent. I found this screenshot from the video to be the most valuable:
As I moved on to test others like My Map AI and Monica Mind map, I gave different prompts connected to my goals (like creating topics for my LinkedIn series and generating a mind map summary of relevant videos). Since I was trying their free version, I didn’t want to use the same prompt repeatedly or give prompts unrelated to my project.
Analyzing different tools can be tedious. I was wrong to assume that I will breeze through my list in one go. By the time I managed to test a few, I needed breaks in between to process my thoughts and go with the flow. I also delayed testing some tools as I had not reached that part of my requirement. So, test at your own pace.
5. Keep What Works. Ditch the Rest
As you test tools for specific requirements, you’ll know what to keep using. Over time, you’ll build an AI toolkit of your own. Revisit this process after six months to check for new tools.
By following these steps—analyzing your goals and challenges, mapping your requirements, discovering tools, testing them at your own pace, and curating your personalized toolkit—you can create an AI suite tailored to your unique needs. This approach not only saves you time and energy but also ensures that your focus remains on your work’s impact rather than its tools.
In case you were wondering, here’s a list of the AI tools I have worked with in the past months and their uses:
ChatGPT (Paid subscription, thanks to my workplace, ORO Labs)
• Grammar check and content review
• Create video scripts based on my content inputs
• Generate use cases relevant to procurement
• Create personas and pain points based on my research inputs
• Craft email reply templates for complicated scenarios
• Get layout suggestions for data sheets and other collaterals
• Organize my research materials into a summary
• Ask any doubts I get while working on a project
Perplexity (Free plan)
• Find relevant articles for research with credible sources
• Get statistics about a particular topic
My Current Go-To Tool:
ChatGPT, because of its paid subscription benefits, which include:
• Access to its latest model with up-to-date information
• Secure data processing
• Context retention and memory
• The ability to upload and process files directly, such as PDFs and spreadsheets