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My development background made starting with AI more complicated than it needed to be.
I went deep into the technology. I built tools because I thought I needed to build tools. Some technical work might have been useful, but I had made it a prerequisite for getting anywhere.
Then, during a video shoot, I ran out of content.
Five more scripts while I was shooting
I messaged my virtual assistant and asked for more ammunition: could she put together some scripts I could record?
She created five new scripts based on what she already knew about me. I could keep shooting for another half an hour.
The context behind that request lived in a directory of files. I collected my stories, things I knew and information about my business there. My assistant could access that material when I needed it.
I wasn't asking her to come up with five topics about a stranger. She had my material to work from.
That was a useful example of how much I could do with a folder. I had spent time building my own tools, yet this request depended on having my stories and business knowledge available to my assistant.
Give your assistant something to work from
If you're nontechnical and want to work with AI this way, you can start collecting that context before you get deep into building anything.
Make a directory for the material you want your assistant to know about you. Put your stories there. Write down what you know about your business and how you tend to express yourself.
In my case, those files supported a specific request: more scripts for the shoot I was already doing. The assistant had access to the background, so I could ask for the next piece of work without explaining everything about myself again.
There may still be technical work involved in the system you eventually build. My experience doesn't make that disappear. It does mean I wouldn't tell a nontechnical owner to learn how to build custom AI tools before starting to collect their own context.
Start with a folder and the stories, business knowledge and mannerisms you want your assistant to draw from when you next ask for help.