What AI is good for
What you'll get out of thisLearner identifies three practical daily-use opportunities specific to their role, plus one role-adjacent opportunity they could route to a teammate.
Lesson
AI is good at three categories of work.
1. Drafting
Writing the first version of something someone will edit.
| Example | Time saved |
|---|---|
| Customer email reply (draft) | 5 to 10 min |
| Internal meeting summary (draft) | 10 to 15 min |
| Job description (draft) | 30 to 60 min |
| Service quote text (draft) | 5 to 15 min |
| Social post, vendor outreach, or one-pager (draft) | 15 to 30 min |
| Translation (draft) | varies |
The rule: draft, then edit. The first draft is for unblocking, not for sending.
2. Summarizing and reading
Reading a long thing and giving you the shape of it.
| Example | Time saved |
|---|---|
| Long email thread | 5 min |
| 30-page contract or policy | 30+ min |
| Customer support transcript | 10 to 15 min |
| Research article or trade journal | 20 to 30 min |
| Recorded meeting transcript | 30 to 60 min |
The rule: summary is a starting point, not a substitute for reading the parts that matter. If a contract paragraph affects your obligations, read that paragraph yourself.
3. Explaining and rewriting
Taking words you have and changing the shape: simpler, longer, formal, casual, in another language, in another format.
| Example | Time saved |
|---|---|
| Plain-language version of a technical doc | 15 to 30 min |
| "Write this email in a friendlier tone" | 5 min |
| Convert a list into a one-paragraph summary or vice versa | 5 min |
| Translate an internal note into customer-facing copy | 10 min |
| Reformat data into a table | 10 to 15 min |
The rule: AI rewrites words it can see. It doesn't add information that isn't there.
What AI is NOT good for (yet)
- ·Numbers you can't verify. AI can do arithmetic but it can also confidently get arithmetic wrong. Use a calculator or a spreadsheet for actual math.
- ·Live data. Unless your AI tool has explicit web search or your live database connected, it doesn't know today's news, today's prices, or your current customer's status.
- ·Decisions only you should make. Hiring, firing, pricing, approving expenditures, customer contract terms.
- ·Anything regulated. Patient data, financial advice, legal advice. These require humans with credentials. AI may help draft. Humans must approve.
In-module exercise (10 minutes)
Part A: Three daily-use opportunities specific to your role
For each, write:
- ·The task
- ·How long it takes you today
- ·How AI could help (drafting, summarizing, or rewriting?)
Examples by role:
Office manager: (1) draft policy reminders, drafting; (2) summarize benefits-vendor RFP, summarizing; (3) rewrite long internal memos in plain language, rewriting.
Bookkeeper: (1) draft client outreach when an invoice is overdue, drafting; (2) summarize monthly transaction list with anomalies flagged, summarizing; (3) rewrite tax-prep instructions for partners, rewriting.
Sales coordinator: (1) draft follow-up emails after demo, drafting; (2) summarize call transcript into CRM notes, summarizing; (3) rewrite proposal text for different verticals, rewriting.
Field worker / dispatcher: (1) draft client status updates, drafting; (2) summarize service log into a customer-facing report, summarizing; (3) rewrite incident notes into a clean record, rewriting.
Project coordinator: (1) draft status emails, drafting; (2) summarize meeting notes, summarizing; (3) rewrite internal documentation for new team members, rewriting.
Part B: One role-adjacent opportunity
Name one AI use case you've seen or imagined that's not in your role but in someone you work with. Could you flag it to that teammate?
Example: "Our service writers spend 30 min/day on customer-facing service-completion emails. AI drafting could cut that to 5. I'm not their manager but I could mention it."
Knowledge check
- ·AI is good at: (a) drafting; (b) calculating exact totals; (c) reading recorded meetings to find action items; (d) deciding whether to fire someone)
- ·The rule for AI summaries is: (a) trust the summary; (b) summary is a starting point. Read the parts that matter)
- ·AI rewriting can: (a) add new information; (b) only rewrite information that's already there)
Answers: 1. (a) and (c). 2. (b). 3. (b).
What's next
Module 0.3 covers the safety side. The things AI should not see and the prompts you'd reject.