Still arguing with AI over a bad first draft? Try these 4 tips

Some prompts have been with you for a year or more. They open with a grand persona for the AI, add a few rules in capital letters, and finish with a request to think it all through. They worked well once, and lately the results feel slightly off. The AI models have changed, and a few of the habits we picked up in 2024 and 2025 now work against us. In this How I AI episode, Neo and I walk through five ways good prompting has changed as of October 2026. You will come away with a simple way to tighten up the prompts you rely on most. What you’ll learn: What a persona really changes in an AI response When a goal and a finished example beat step-by-step instructions Why asking AI to think through its answer can backfire How to add emphasis without boxing the AI in What a good checklist looks like before AI hands work back Practical AI tools for productivity and focus Real-world AI workflows used by high performers How to use AI at work without burning out Smart shortcuts for managing time and mental load Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neoaplin/) and via inventium.ai (https://inventium.ai), where he leads Inventium's AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams. Find out more about Inventium AI’s training programs at inventium.ai

Who keeps moving my buttons? You know the one. You finally learn where everything lives, and overnight the menu has been rearranged, the feature has a new name, and the thing you spent months perfecting is on a list of things being retired. In this How I AI episode, Neo and I make sense of the latest shake-up: what is replacing GPTs and Gems, when the lights go out on each platform, and how to back up your hard work so none of it vanishes without warning. You'll leave knowing what to save, what to convert, and when. What you'll learn: Why GPTs and Gems are being retired What skills are and why they're taking over The deadlines to put in your calendar now The first thing to do before pressing any migration button Practical AI tools for productivity and focus Real-world AI workflows used by high performers How to use AI at work without burning out Smart shortcuts for managing time and mental load Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neoaplin/) and via inventium.ai (https://inventium.ai), where he leads Inventium's AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams.

You ask AI for ideas and get a tidy list of ten, each one praised as being brilliant. The tempting move is to grab the first one that looks decent and get on with your day. The catch is that you've handed over the thinking, and what comes back tends to look a lot like what everyone else is getting. AI can be a far better brainstorming partner when it sharpens your thinking instead of replacing it. The difference comes down to how you set it up and what you ask it to do. In this How I AI episode, Neo and I unpack how we use AI as a brainstorming buddy at Inventium. You'll leave with a way to brainstorm that produces ideas built around your business, your customers and your goals. What you'll learn: Why AI's ideas tend to land close to everyone else's The context AI needs before it can help you brainstorm well Four techniques that keep you doing the ideating How to get AI to put the questions to you The bonus prompt that makes AI ask something of you first Practical AI tools for productivity and focus Real-world AI workflows used by high performers How to use AI at work without burning out Smart shortcuts for managing time and mental load

Some of us have a favourite chat thread we keep coming back to, adding a bit more context every time we open it. It feels efficient, like you're building up a work buddy who really knows your stuff. But every extra message quietly chips away at how reliable that thread becomes, and by the time you notice, it's surprisingly hard to pull it back. Knowing when to walk away from a chat, and how to take your best thinking with you, is one of the most useful AI habits you can build. In this How I AI episode, Neo and I unpack why long chat threads lose their way and how to move your work into a fresh chat without leaving the good stuff behind. What you'll learn: The point in a chat thread where AI becomes more likely to hallucinate How to think about the lifespan of a chat thread The simple way to carry your work into a new chat, and where it falls short What a strong handoff brief includes, and why its opening lines matter The signs it's time to start fresh, even before AI goes off track Practical AI tools for productivity and focus Real-world AI workflows used by high performers How to use AI at work without burning out Smart shortcuts for managing time and mental load Download Neo's handoff skill here: https://amantha-imber.kit.com/e53f183014 Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neoaplin/) and via inventium.ai (https://inventium.ai), where he leads Inventium's AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams.

Most people treat AI like a vending machine: you show up, you ask, you wait. But what if there's another way to use it, one where the work gets done before you've even thought to ask for it. In this How I AI episode, Neo and I explore scheduled prompts: what they are, why they're worth setting up, and how to actually write one that works. What you'll learn: What a scheduled prompt is and how it differs from a regular AI conversation When it makes sense to run a prompt in the background rather than in real time The kinds of recurring tasks that are well suited to scheduling How to know when a scheduled prompt has actually run Neo's trick for writing a prompt worth scheduling again and again Practical AI tools for productivity and focus Real-world AI workflows used by high performers How to use AI at work without burning out Smart shortcuts for managing time and mental load Connect with Neo Aplin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neoaplin/) and via inventium.ai (https://inventium.ai), where he leads Inventium's AI training and upskilling work with organisations and teams.