Keeping Pace with AI Without Going Nuts

Many things about AI are just noise, but not everything

Do you feel overwhelmed by the ever-increasing AI tools?

First, you don’t need all of them. Too many are facades of one of the LLM models (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini). Once you master prompting, probably half of the tools are irrelevant. But some tools might interest you; the question is, which ones?

Here’s what we’ll cover in this episode:

• Understanding What’s Happening

• Keeping Pace with AI

• Identifying What Matters to You

• Crafting Your Playbook

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What’s Going On?

AI is the thing right now (not the only one, but the one that gets attention).

When you look at investments, it’s tenfold from 2015 to 2024. And most believe another tenfold growth will occur in a decade. Inevitably, tools will burst like popcorn.

The following graph (Claude AI generated) shows why many products are born.

Generated by Claude AI - Historical data (2015-2024) compiled from multiple sources, including Stanford AI Index, PwC MoneyTree, and CB Insights reports.

Keeping Pace with AI

We’re reaching the point where more tools are available than you can consider using. And I’m talking exclusively about product management-related things. Let’s look at a list of products created recently:

• Experiment: ProdPad Copilot, CopilotAI, Tether, PlaybookUX

• Prototyping: Uizard, Galileo, Fabrie, Builder.io, Genius UI

• Data Analysis: Obviously.AI, Notably, Polymer Search, Akkio

• Presentation: Tome, Gamma, Beautiful.ai, Kroma.ai

• Copywriting: Jasper, Copy.ai, Writesonic

• Coding: GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Lovable.dev, Bolt.new

This list keeps growing, and you may fear you’re missing something. However, our attention is limited, so we’ve got to prioritize.

Here’s what I recommend doing:

• Weekly: Consume Insights

  • The Product Compass: Pawel will simplify it for you. He’s all about providing insights every week. It will take about 10 minutes to gain inspiration.

  • AI Supremacy: Michael writes only about AI, sharing what’s happening and giving you insights. This is another 10-minute investment that will pay off.

• Bi-weekly: Explore

  • Product Hunt: Check what’s new there. If something speaks to you, try it out.

  • Commit to trying a new product every two weeks, most freemium.

• Monthly: Integrate

  • Reflect on what you learned over the last month.

  • Integrate what was useful into your routine.

• Quarterly: Review

  • Some things will become a distraction; cut them.

  • Some things will make you fly, double down.

Identifying What Matters to You

You’ve got to start with yourself. What’s something you want to maximize your potential? Then, search for solutions for that. It’s not about randomly exploring AI to solve problems you don’t care, it’s about focusing on what matters.

Another challenge is how you perceive AI. Many people perceive it as a danger. I perceive my potential as a Copilot. What’s your view?

Once you know what you want to boost, try out several tools before committing to one. It’s about diverging and converging.

For example, I like LLM as a sparring partner. Here’s what I did for a while:

• Used the same prompt in 3 different models

• Evaluated the answers and understood what worked best for me

• Then, I decided to upgrade my account on what I saw more potential in (not ChatGPT, but Claude)

This helped me experience multiple tools and understand their nuances, strengths, and weaknesses. I found Claude stronger at data analysis, infographic creation, and sparring.

You can select something you want to level up, search for tools, and try it out. But then, you should work on your playbook. Let’s talk about it.

Crafting Your Playbook

The more you interact with GenAI tools, the better you become. You will understand what prompts work and which are just noise. Your output will be as good as your input.

Let me give you an example with a simple prompt.

Do a sentiment analysis of this file.

The output doesn’t give me much. I understand what’s going on, but I can barely act.

Now, if you try using a more elaborate prompt:

Act as an experienced product leader, and do the following:

- Top 5 positive aspects (50 chars) with number of mentions
- Top 5 negative aspects (50 chars) with number of mentions
- Top 5 change requests (50 chars) with number of mentions

Then make a list of 5 suggestions (100 chars each), on what to tackle prioritized by relevance.

The result becomes actionable, and I can do something about it. First, analyze, select, iterate, and then take action.

So, why am I showing you this? Because you’d benefit from crafting your playbook. Consider the tasks you often do, for example:

• Customer Interview

• Writing Backlog Items

• Assumptions Identification

• Experiment Ideas

• Data Analysis

• And more

You can create a file with your playbook. It’s important to be yours because the more context you give, the better. Without context, GenAI is limited.

Here’s an example for you focused on discovery tasks.

Final Thoughts

AI will supercharge you if you remain open to trying out new stuff, requiring you to unlearn old ways. Are you up to that? If yes, the journey is going to be fun.

The secret is creating a routine that you continuously learn and reflect on. Keep what helps and drop what’s just noise. Consume insights weekly, explore tools bi-weekly, integrate the good ones monthly, and review your way of working quarterly. This simple routine will already put you ahead of most people.

Be active, decisive, and curious. The rest will follow.

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Whenever you’re ready, I can help you boost your career

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