How to turn something you read about AI into action

You save an article or a presentation about AI because you recognize something important, but it goes into a reading list that rarely makes it back into your routine. One way to turn reading into action is to read with a concrete situation in mind: an open decision, a difficulty on the team or a possibility you do not yet know how to explore.

Read looking for connections

Before you start, write down the situation in a few lines. While reading, notice which idea helps you describe it better, which claim needs checking and which question you would take to your team.

A manager reads about agents while thinking about meeting preparation. The material shows that gathering documents and making commitments require different permissions. The next question becomes which part of the preparation the team would like to delegate. Not every recommendation needs to be applied; reading can also help you rule out an approach.

Note one idea, one question and one possible action

The idea sums up what caught your attention. The question identifies what still needs to be understood. The possible action shows how to investigate the connection with your work. This short record lets you come back to the material without rereading it. After a practical attempt, go back to the passage and update the record with what you observed.

When reading the AI Thinking overview, Dani Hayoshi's method, for example, notice how Question, Redesign and Rebuild connect to the situation you picked. Reading gains continuity when it produces a connection you can explain: this idea helps me examine this situation, and this is the question worth investigating.

Dani Hayoshi is the author of AI Thinking. Her work connects artificial intelligence, education and entrepreneurship. About Dani.