The AI Advantage: How to Go from AI Novice to Operator
And what's in store for my next mini-series
Today's post is the culmination of The School of Knowledge's first mini-series. Over the last 7 weeks I've been diving head first into the world of AI after realising I lacked the basic understanding of what ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini had to offer, let alone the full extent of their capabilities.
This focus has allowed me to spend my time researching and writing about just one topic, but more importantly—practicing it.
Doing is the foundation of knowledge. Simply reading excess material and writing about it (although writing brings clarity) can often lead to biases such as the Dunning-Kruger effect or overconfidence. Simply knowing what something is and knowing how to do it is not the same thing. I wouldn't dare dream of getting in an F1 car!
The Journey So Far
The mini-series has taken readers through a progressive understanding of AI capabilities:
How to Use AI Effectively: We dug into the three systems models and assigned them best-case roles.
ChatCPT Agent Mode: A semi-autonomous virtual assistant that can execute complex, multi-step workflows or online tasks for you.
AI Isn’t Making You Stupid—You’re Just Learning Wrong: We through the latest research in the science of learning, and compared how AI was utilising the knowledge of world-class cognitive scientists, educators and pedagogy experts to help make you smart.
My Secret Productivity System: Practical workflows that helped me grow this newsletter to nearly 10,000 subscribers. Including how I use AI.
Quality Over Quantity
There have been two inflection points since I started The School of Knowledge: after reading Robert Pirsig's Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Lila, and upon writing my 100th piece here on Substack. At both times I was reminded that this isn't a race, quality matters and that the original thesis behind starting a Substack was to help me cope with my ADHD symptoms through writing. I didn't fare great in school, and it was only as an adult in my mid-twenties that the curiosity bug finally worked its way into my body and helped me realise that there's lots I wanted to learn about.
Different strokes for different folks.
Quality is an important subject to me. It always has been—I just didn't realise it before reading Zen. It was important, necessary even, when I was a 19-year-old Royal Marine, important when I returned to college at 29, when other people around me were stuck in careers they hated, important as a business co-owner leading projects and very much important as a writer now. The words I put to paper (digital) are a direct reflection of the many small decisions I have made prior to typing them.
In keeping with that theme I've created:
The AI Advantage: A Comprehensive Guide to ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini.
What You’re Getting
The AI Advantage is:
38 pages of consolidated learning
13,000 words of practical insights
23 core concepts organised into Foundational, Intermediate, and Advanced sections
A reference guide that transforms you from novice user to operator
The Value Proposition
For paid subscribers, this comprehensive guide is included as part of your membership benefits. For others, it's available as a standalone purchase—an investment in understanding tools that are rapidly becoming essential for knowledge work.
If you’re somebody who wants to start seeing the benefit from using AI and are asking yourself “How do I go from someone who uses AI occasionally, to someone who wields it as a natural extension of their thinking?” This guide answers the critical question.
Looking Forward
The next series will be on Capital Allocation. For those that don't know what capital allocation is, it's how CEOs of publicly listed companies invest their companies' cash, and looking into if they're doing a good job for both the company and its shareholders. Now, you might say "Going from AI to capital allocation is a bit flip-floppy, isn't it?" but I don't think it is, and here's why.
You can replace capital with words such as people, resources, time, energy, commitment etc., and the principles are mostly the same. To allocate something is to distribute it—and the good thing about publicly listed businesses is the treasure chest of information we have available to us as well as books upon books on the people who created them.
They are of course all integrating AI in interesting and novel ways too.
Final Thoughts
In a world where AI capabilities are expanding monthly, having a solid foundation isn't optional—it's essential. This guide provides that foundation, built not on speculation but on seven weeks of dedicated practice and experimentation.
For those ready to move beyond basic prompting and discover what these platforms can really do, The AI Advantage offers a practical roadmap from someone who's already walked the path. If you don’t believe me, maybe take Charlie Munger’s Advice instead:
What is elementary, worldly wisdom? Well, the first rule is that you can't really know anything if you just remember isolated facts and try and bang 'em back. If the facts don't hang together on a latticework of theory, you don't have them in a usable form. You've got to have models in your head. And you've got to array your experience― both vicarious and direct-on this latticework of models.
- Charlie Munger
For paying members of The School of Knowledge, the guide is below the paywall.
For those interested in a one-time payment click here.
Until next time, Karl (The School of Knowledge).
Whenever you’re ready
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