AI for Anyone #001: You Don’t Have to Be a Tech Person

Hey, I’m Zack.

Most AI content is written for people who went to MIT, and I think that’s a problem.

This newsletter is for everyone else.

If you’ve been hearing about AI nonstop but still aren’t sure what’s actually useful, you’re in the right place. Every week, I’ll break down what matters, show you one practical way to use AI, and help you get more comfortable with the tools without the hype or jargon.

Let’s get into it.

OpenAI rolled out persistent memory across all ChatGPT plans, including free.

That means ChatGPT can now remember things like your job, your writing style, and your preferences across conversations. Instead of re-explaining your context every time, it can keep up with you over time.

If you haven’t turned it on yet, go to Settings → Personalization → Memory.

Takes 30 seconds. Worth it.

If you use Gmail, Google Docs, or Google Sheets, you already have an AI assistant built in.

It’s called Gemini, and it’s been quietly getting better. You can use it to rewrite text, summarize documents, brainstorm ideas, and speed up everyday work without opening a separate tool.

Most people have no idea this is sitting right there. We’ll do a full breakdown of Google’s AI tools in a future issue.

You’re going to keep hearing the word agents.

Don’t let it intimidate you.

An AI agent is just an AI system that can handle multi-step tasks with less hand-holding. Instead of asking one question at a time, you can give it a bigger job, like researching competitors and organizing the results into a summary.

It’s still early, but these tools are getting more practical fast. We’ll cover real-world uses soon.

Here's one of the simplest, highest-value things you can do with AI right now: take a rough, rambling email draft and make it crisp and professional in one shot.

We all do this. You type out an email fast and it's a mess. Too long, awkward phrasing, not sure how to end it. Instead of staring at it and rewriting it three times, just hand it to AI.

1. Open ChatGPT (chat.openai.com) or Claude (claude.ai). Both have free tiers and either works great.

2. Paste the prompt below.

3. Replace the bracketed parts with your actual email and context.

4. Hit send. Read the result. Tweak if needed.

The Prompt:

Clean up this email draft for me. Keep my voice but make it clearer and more concise. The recipient is [who you're writing to]. The goal of the email is [what you want them to do or know]. Here's my draft: [paste your draft here]

That's it. You'll get back a tighter, cleaner version in about 5 seconds. If you don't like the tone, just say "make it more casual" or "make it a little warmer" and it'll adjust.

ChatGPT — chat.openai.com

If you've heard of exactly one AI tool, it's this one, and for good reason. ChatGPT is the Swiss Army knife of AI: write, brainstorm, summarize, explain, translate, edit, and a hundred other things. The free version is genuinely good, and the $20/month Plus plan gets you faster responses, image generation, and priority access. Start free, see if it sticks, then decide about paying. For most non-technical professionals, this is the first tool to actually learn.

Price: Free tier available. $20/month for Plus.

Best for: Anyone who communicates a lot — writing, emails, summaries, quick research.

Worth it? Yes. The free tier alone is more useful than most paid software subscriptions.

Need to explain something complicated to a client or colleague but not sure how to frame it? Try this:

Explain [topic or concept] to me like I'm smart but not an expert in this field. Use a simple analogy and keep it under 150 words.

Works great for understanding AI stuff, legal or financial concepts, industry jargon, anything where you need to actually get it before you can explain it to someone else.

Thanks for being here for issue one. Forward this to one person in your life who's been meaning to figure out AI and hasn't started yet. Hit reply and let me know what you're hoping to learn.

Zack