7 Ways to Get So Good at AI, People Will Think You Are AI

7 Ways to Get So Good at AI, People Will Think You Are AI | WIRED

Skip to main contentCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storySam Liang is appalled as I confess my technique for recording an interview: running the Voice Memos app on an iPhone and transferring the transcript manually to a Google Doc. The CEO of Otter, a transcription service for analyzing meetings, looks at me as if I tried to call into our video chat using a rotary phone. He believes, naturally, that I should switch to Otter. He’s probably right.It’s all part of a new identity at work (and maybe at home): the AI native. Time-saving productivity tools like next-gen note-takers, task-based agents, and chatty inbox assistants are exploding in popularity as they invade every nook and cranny of our digital lives. While it’s critical to keep concerns about security and hallucinations top of mind when using any AI feature, early adopters are developing a fluency that will likely pay dividends for years to come.Being AI native—or “agentic,” as AI natives say—means staying adaptable to new experiences. Transcription failures aside, I’ve embraced experimentation, from generating AI podcasts to letting Claude organize my desktop files. (Some of this I talked about in my newsletter series last year, AI Unlocked.) If you want to get so good at using AI tools that your coworkers start questioning whether it's blood or ribbon cables running beneath your skin, here are my seven tips for AI-powered ascendance.1. Kill Your ChatbotsChatGPT is so 2022. These days, the cool kids are all about Codex. Your eyes may glaze over, rightfully, at the mention of “AI agents,” but compared to anything on the market even a year ago, software automation tools like Codex and Anthropic’s Cowork are leagues better at actually taking over your computer and completing tasks. Don’t waste your time fiddling with a single chatbot when you could be commanding a whole army of them.2. Go Voice ModeOh, you’re still typing up everything you want your AI tools to do, Boomer-style? That’s cute. But trust Otter’s Liang: “Voice will become more dominant moving forward,” he tells me. “People hate writing.” (He caveats that I, a journalist, probably don’t hate writing, which is, mostly, true.) This move is primarily for the input, not necessarily the output. I rarely use the voice-only mode on ChatGPT, for instance, but I often speak a prompt into my phone and then skim the written output.3. Build a SandboxEven though agents are actually good now, the rascally little devils can still eff everything up without proper boundaries. (Earlier this year, a Claude-powered agent deleted a startup’s entire production database and backups.) So if you’re ready to have some external entity take control of your computer, you need to spend an afternoon researching everything these tools can do and set up some dedicated folders with the files you want them to access.4. Give It Everything You’ve GotWith apologies to our privacy-minded security writers, it’s simply the case that the more data you share with AI, the more personalized the outputs can be. Jo Barrow is the chief of staff at Granola, one of Otter’s competitors, and she puts it this way: “I have a personal OS system, which is a series of files on my computer which my AI lives inside. Whenever I ask questions, all of that context is right there, and the agent can go and figure it out. I don’t need to repeat myself over and over again.” Fair warning: Sensitive conversations are still best had without a permanent record.5. Create an ImpersonatorBarrow tells me she dumps all of her Slack messages into a document to let bots know how she sounds on that platform, and she does the same for her email inbox and social media accounts. “People use AI for finessing their tone of voice,” she says. “There’s only so many times you can say, ‘OK, a little bit warmer. OK, a little less formal.’ That’s a big time sink.” Creating these guides for the agents to follow won’t fully replicate your voice, but they can nudge the bot to output something at least closer to your cadence and tone.6. Think Across TeamsData is powerful, and adding more of it from people around you can further enhance AI tools. Consider your coworkers: “Many people are using a meeting note-taker now, but they're still using it at the individual meeting level,” Liang says. He touts the “knowledge engine” Otter can create when a whole workplace buys in, from the engineering team to the marketing department. You can even do this at home: If family members pour various notes from their day into a single, shared AI tool, that’s going to provide more insights than siloed usage.7. Learn to JailbreakSuccessfully using AI tools in 2026 doesn’t require writing—I mean speaking—perfect prompts. Even so, starting off more complex tasks with a creative, well-calibrated request can be clutch. Experiment with the wording, especially if you’re hitting unexpected guardrails blocking the output. Recently, I attempted to convince a bot to send me email addresses for a variety of niche experts, and it refused to deliver. But when I started a new chat and shared details about why I wanted this info (for reporting purposes, of course, not stalking), it forked over a list.What Say You?Let us know what you think about this article in the comments below. Alternatively, you can submit a letter to the editor at [email protected].CommentsBack to topTriangleContinue Your AI EducationTake This Mandatory AI Workplace Training—or ElseMeet the Sad Wives of AICan Normies Really Vibe Code?Everyone Who Used to Make TV Is Now Secretly Training AIA WIRED Fact-Checker Fact-Checks AIHow AI Agents Plunged the Tech World Into ChaosIn your inbox: Will Knight’s AI Lab explores advances in AIReece Rogers is WIRED's service writer, focused on explaining crucial topics and helping readers get the most out of their technology. Prior to WIRED, Reece covered streaming at Business Insider. ... Read MoreService WriterTopicsAI Panicartificial intelligencechatbotstipsservicesoftwareproductivityagentic AII’m a Normie. Can Normies Really Vibe Code?Apparently anyone can vibe code anything these days. So Claude and I tried to make a database for tracking the petty grievances of the masses.Chris ColinI Work in Hollywood. Everyone Who Used to Make TV Is Now Secretly Training AIFor screenwriters like me—and job seekers all over—AI gig work is the new waiting tables. In eight months, I’ve done 20 of these soul-crushing contracts for five different platforms. It’s bad.Ruth FowlerMeet the Sad Wives of AIAre you married to a man who’s obsessed with AI? I’m so, so sorry.Alessandra RamPortable Translators Can Help You Speak Like a Local When Traveling AbroadYour cell phone can handle basic language translation, but bespoke tools can offer a much more immersive experience.Christopher NullThe Bloomberg Terminal Is Getting an AI Makeover, Like It or NotWIRED spoke with Bloomberg’s chief technology officer about the big, chatbot-style changes coming to the iconic platform for traders.Joel KhaliliUsing AI for Just 10 Minutes Might Make You Lazy and Dumb, Study ShowsNew research suggests that reliance on AI assistants can have a negative impact on people’s ability to think and problem solve.Will KnightWhatsApp Adds Meta AI Chats That Are Built to Be Fully PrivateThe company says its new Incognito Chat allows you to use its AI chatbot without anyone else—including Meta—being able to access your conversations.Lily Hay NewmanI Am Begging AI Companies to Stop Naming Features After Human ProcessesAnthropic announced “dreaming” for AI agents to sort through “memories” at its developer conference. Can we not?Reece RogersMira Murati Wants Her AI to ‘Keep Humans in the Loop’The Thinking Machines Lab founder and former CTO of OpenAI tells WIRED she isn’t interested in automating people out of jobs. Instead, she’s building AI that can collaborate.Will KnightKeyboard Shortcuts I Learned From My CatEvery time my cat Mira walks across a keyboard, I learn a few new Mac and PC keyboard shortcuts I never knew about.Justin PotYou Can Control Everything on Your Phone With Your Voice. Here’s HowGo fully hands-free with these tips for Android and iOS.David NieldChatGPT Has ‘Goblin’ Mania in the US. In China It Will ‘Catch You Steadily’OpenAI’s chatbot has some weird linguistic tics in Chinese that are driving users crazy.Zeyi Yang