How to Build Your Personal AI Assistant

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0:27Alexandra Samuel:Good sleep is everything. That's why OLLI's science back support is made with a blend of melatonin and L-theanine for both kiddos and grownups. So when your mind won't switch off, you've got something that can help. Erasing thoughts and restless nights won't stand a chance. Find OLLI's sleep solutions for the whole family at OLLI.com. That's O-L-L-Y dot com. Once you've been using AI for a while, the busy work starts to creep back in. You might find yourself repeating the same prompts every time you start a new conversation. If that sounds familiar, it's time to build your own assistant. I'm Alexandra Samuel, a tech speaker and a data journalist.

1:05In my HBR article, I walk through how to build AI assistants for writing, research, project tracking, even tech support. Here's how you can build one that actually saves you time. Different platforms work best for different things. For example, if you want to talk to your assistant out loud, I'd use ChatGPT. If you care most about writing style, try Claude. Just make sure you know what your organization allows and how each platform handles your data. So open a regular chat. Describe the task you want help with. You can say something like, you're a marketing copywriter who writes in the voice of, and then insert your own name and your job title so the assistant knows who it's channeling.

1:42Test it. Give it lots of feedback. You can get as specific as 0.2 and 3 are great. 0.1 is too long. 0.4 doesn't even sound like me. Once you're getting good responses in that chat, copy the prompts and instructions that worked into a text file because you're going to use those to build the assistant. Now it's time to write your assistant's custom instructions. They define who your assistant is, what it does, how it should behave. First, give it a persona. You're a detail-obsessed analyst working for a boss who doesn't tolerate mistakes. Next, define the task. You summarize research into bullet points, then give it a goal.

2:14You write memos that make it easy for your boss to reach data-driven decisions. And finally, set the tone you write in a friendly, concise voice with no jargon. You can ask the AI to draft all of that for you based on the examples you saved of the prompts and replies that worked in your test session. Give your assistant knowledge files made up of real examples of your work, like past newsletters, slide decks, prank guidelines, emails, anything that helps it understand your voice and context. And now no assistant is going to be perfect on the first try. So keep adjusting your instructions, add better examples, give feedback until it works the way you need.

2:51And if you've built your own assistant, I'd love to hear how it's working. Drop a note in the comments. Have no fear. Chosen Foods is here to defend your favorite foods from the forces of seedy oils and sketchy ingredients. With cooking oils, salad dressings and mayo, all powered by the good fats from 100 % pure avocado oil and simple, delicious ingredients. Chosen Foods. I'm Glenn Washington, host of Snap Judgment, the award-winning storytelling podcast from KQED. And every week, Snap deals a new card, like jumping on Rihanna's private plane, or the accidental bank robber, or even the man who was swallowed by a hippo.

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