You're probably not asking AI to do enough

We now have access to a pretty extraordinary amount of artificial intelligence.

And much of the time, we use it to answer questions.

Nothing wrong with that. I do it constantly.

But I'm finding AI gets much more interesting when I ask it to get something done.

A website offer, from bed

One very early morning, I was lying in bed thinking about my website services.

I knew the AI-powered design method I've been developing had real value. (It's how I built henrynovak.com, which I wrote about last time.) I was thinking about how to update my services so they make better use of my experience and creative direction.

So I started talking to ChatGPT on my phone.

Under the covers, that conversation eventually became a new website offer, with positioning, methodology, pricing, presentation materials, and a much clearer sense of what I'm actually bringing to the table. (More on that soon.)

I didn't start with some perfectly engineered prompt. I started with what I was thinking about and gave AI something substantial to work on. Together, we developed something new, and I like it.

Give it the actual mess

Another morning, while at my desk, I felt like I had too many competing priorities buzzing around in my head.

Instead of asking, "How can I be more productive?" I brain-dumped the actual situation into AI: projects, ideas, client deadlines, and things I'd been avoiding.

AI helped me sort through them, highlighted what mattered, and updated my new AI-powered, database-driven personal management system with an actionable next-steps sequence.

No productivity advice. Actual productivity.

"Tell me how to sell this" vs. "Help me get this sold"

I've had a similar experience with Muse, Meta's new personal AI agent, and its integration with Facebook Marketplace.

I've had stuff to sell, but it's the kind of chore I once heard someone say belongs on a "not-to-do list."

Muse wrote the ads, suggested prices, and coached me on photos, all while updating an online tracking sheet for me.

It was more fun, and I got it done!

Instead of: "Tell me how to sell this."

The request becomes: "Help me get this sold."

See the difference?

One asks AI for information. The other gives it a job.

These systems have substantial power and intelligence. Yet we often give them surprisingly small assignments.

A bigger job isn't a blank check, though.

You may have seen the Muse story making the rounds. A tech YouTuber let it run his Marketplace listing for a day. It accepted a lowball offer and gave a buyer his home address.

So the job comes with boundaries. Decide up front what AI can do on its own and make sure that it checks with you along the way.

Giving AI more responsibility doesn't mean surrendering human agency.

I still decide what matters, what direction to pursue, what feels right, and whether the result is any good.

Try giving it a bigger job. I'd love to hear what you hand off. Just hit reply. Any questions? Ask away.

And if the job you've been putting off is a new website, that's exactly the offer that came out of that conversation in bed. Reply, and I'll walk you through it.

Use AI well. Stay human. Build what matters.