A practical AI guide for Vermonters, from AI in the 802.
A new chat window does not finish the admin. The work starts when one repeating job has a written instruction and a person still checks the result.
Most people try AI the same way they try a new app. They open it once, ask a clever question, and go back to the inbox.
The tool is not the job. The job is the thing you already do every week: sort mail, chase a quote, move a date, or copy a note from one place to another.
Start with one job
Pick a task you can describe in a few sentences. If you cannot say who it is for, what done looks like, and what it must never do, an agent will wander.
Keep the login
You keep every account. An agent should use a connection you can turn off, not a password pasted into a chat. If someone asks for the password to your email, stop.
Check the work
For the first week, the agent drafts and you send. That is slower on purpose. It shows whether the instruction is clear before anything reaches a customer.
When one job is steady, add a second.
If you want more of these, subscribe to AI in the 802. Free, every Friday: Vermont AI news and one practical guide at a time.