How to train your own AI in 15 minutes

The non-geek’s starter guide to building the skillset of the future with a custom GPT

Managing people has long been the path to advancement. Now, the same is true of managing AIs.

In many professions, there’s a point at which the only way up or forward is if you take on the work of leading a team. That “team” has long consisted of humans, but now it’s just as crucial to cultivate and manage AIs.

Sure, there may be some jobs that don’t involve AI, but more and more careers will depend on your ability to define the problems an AI can solve, just like you’d identify and assign tasks to a direct report. You need to know how to identify and organize the knowledge base your AIs will draw upon, just like you provide guidance or background materials to your employees. You need the ability to review an AI’s work and adjust your instructions effectively, just like you give feedback to an employee until they deliver the results they need.

For all the attention given to the work of “prompt engineering”—figuring out the actual question or series of questions to ask a pre-trained AI–that’s just the beginning of a larger skillset in how to work with AIs. Building this AI skillset isn’t just a matter of future-proofing your career: It can also facilitate your immediate, day-to-day work, and introduce a whole new set of challenges and opportunities that will likely make your job a lot more rewarding.