Everyday AI: the five-minute wins

Writing, replies, notes, receipts and research: the small jobs most people start with.

Ask the questionCan AI take the small daily jobs off my plate? Yes. Start with the ones you do every week.

Most of this guide is about bigger systems. But most people start smaller, and that's the right place to start. These are the everyday jobs AI does well right now. Each one takes a few minutes the first time and saves you time every week after.

• Writing and editing. Emails, quotes, job descriptions, website text. Paste your rough version and ask it to make it clearer, shorter or friendlier. Ask for three versions and pick one.
• Customer replies. Paste a tricky message and ask for a calm, polite reply in your voice. You still read it and press send.
• Notes into actions. Record a voice memo after a site visit or a meeting, paste the transcript, and ask for a short summary and a to-do list.
• Social posts. Describe the job you just finished and ask for a caption for Facebook and one for Instagram. Add your own photo.
• Receipts and paperwork. Take a photo of a pile of receipts and ask for a table: date, supplier, amount, GST. Check the totals before it goes to your bookkeeper.
• Plain English. Paste a contract, a council letter or a supplier's terms and ask what it actually means for you, and what to ask about.
• Quick research. Compare three suppliers, explain a new rule in your industry, or find out what customers usually ask about a service. Ask it to show where the facts came from.
• Spreadsheet help. Describe what you want in words ("add up column C for March only") and ask for the formula.
• Images and ideas. Rough logo ideas, a flyer layout, a name for a new service. Use them as a starting point, not the finished thing.

I run [type of business] with [number] people. Here's a normal week for me: [list the jobs you do every week, e.g. quotes, invoices, replying to enquiries, social posts, ordering stock].

Pick the five jobs where AI could save me the most time right now, using a free AI assistant and no new software. For each one, give me:
1. What to paste in or upload
2. The exact prompt to use
3. What I still need to check myself

Keep it plain English. Don't ask me questions, make sensible assumptions and list them at the end.