Understand the work

Field Guide

A good method tells you when to use it, what to bring, and how to decide whether it worked.

Start with a task that already matters to you. Use these explanations to make your next attempt more deliberate.

• Define what good AI work looks like before you delegate

  Write acceptance criteria for AI work with a copyable worksheet, a meeting-notes example, and clear checks for missing facts and human judgment.

• Draft with AI, then edit and sign it yourself

  A graded method for routine writing: AI drafts from your facts, you check, cut and sign. Evidence from a 453-person writing experiment; not yet tested by Today’s Worker.

• Research with AI using a frontier check

  A graded method for AI-assisted research: split the work at the jagged frontier, keep judgment calls, and verify quotes. Evidence from a 758-consultant experiment; not yet tested by Today’s Worker.

• Learn a skill with a hint-only AI tutor

  A graded method for learning with AI: hints, not answers, and a closed-book test you set first. Evidence from a randomized trial with nearly 1,000 students; not yet tested by Today’s Worker.

• Source-check an AI draft before you publish it

  Use a claim ledger to check an AI-assisted draft against its sources, preserve important qualifiers, and label what you cannot verify.

• Fast lead replies and quote follow-up drafts (a person sends)

  A graded trades method: AI drafts lead-reply templates and open-quote follow-ups; a person edits and sends, with no auto-send. Thin practitioner evidence; not yet tested by Today’s Worker.

• Prompt vs skill vs workflow: choose what your task needs

  Choose between a prompt, project instruction, skill and workflow. Includes a weekly-update example, output checks and a copyable decision worksheet.

• Why AI repeats mistakes: turn a correction into a rule

  Diagnose a repeated AI mistake, write a scoped correction, and check a later task. Includes a worked example and copyable test log.

• Turn visit notes into scope and quote wording (you set the price)

  A graded trades method: AI turns your visit notes into customer-ready scope wording, inclusions and exclusions; you set every number. Practitioner evidence only; not yet tested by Today’s Worker.

From the essay archive

• Do the work that compounds

  One hard skill or one offer, practiced. An essay from the original Today’s Worker desk.

• Career capital for operators

  A reputation, a waitlist, and a process you can hand over.

Research-based guidance is labeled separately from a tested method or an observed business result.