Stop trying to be an "AI Expert." You don't need a PhD in machine learning to get value out of this technology today. View this email in your browser

The Weekly AI Briefing

🧑‍🏫 Latest AI thoughts, tools, and news from unburdn Stop trying to be an "AI Expert." You don't need a PhD in machine learning to get value out of this technology today. Let’s take a big step back. I am giving you a menu. My goal over the next two newsletters is to give you the exact toolkit I use to run my daily life. If you ignore the hype and just use these simple tools, you will outpace 99% of your competition. This week is the "What." Next week, I'll show you the "How." These five tools are my daily drivers. They replace the need for multiple junior knowledge workers. They are low friction, high impact, and cheap. If you aren't using them, you are voluntarily choosing to work slower. Here’s the play: The Brain: Gemini “Thinking with 3 Pro”. This is my new default. It’s where I build my personal and business bots. 90% of my AI prompting happens here. The Memory: Granola. I don't have a professional conversation without it. It takes notes, summarizes, and answers questions about meetings I had months ago. The Scribe: Wispr Flow. Throw away your keyboard. I dictate everything now… emails, newsletters, messages. It fixes my grammar and formats perfectly. The Designer: Gamma. If you are still manually formatting PowerPoint slides, stop. Gamma builds professional decks in minutes. The Analyst: NotebookLM. My research assistant. I dump hours of podcasts, white papers, and videos into it, and it gives me summaries, critiques, and even generates a podcast about the content for me to listen to. PS: Keep reading for hot-takes on headlines, AI tools, and a personal story + pic

📰 AI News Worth Knowing

🎭 The "AI Theater" is Real Execs love saying they use AI, but the reality on the ground is different. This post illustrates the gap between buying software and actually adopting proficiency. Read Here 🏛️ Regulatory Whiplash Incoming Trump signed an order to curb state-level AI laws. Whether you like the politics or not, expect confusion. We are strapping in for a battle between federal and state frameworks. Read Here 🚨 OpenAI’s "Red Light District" ChatGPT Adult Mode is coming in 2026. Cynical take: This is a desperate lever pull to stop their declining market share. Remember their internal "Code Red"? Now it’s a Red Light. (Sorry- bad dad joke!) Read Here 💻 Hacking is for Everyone Now It used to take skill to be a hacker. Now, AI lowers the barrier to entry so anyone can do it. As agents become autonomous, AI might just hack you itself. Cybersecurity is about to get very busy. Read Here

🛠️ AI Tools You Need to Try

🥣 Granola Yes, I’m shouting this out again. It is my second brain. It joins my meetings, listens to my voice notes on walks, and tracks action items. It’s like having three Executive Assistants following me around 24/7. Try It Here 🧰 Unburdn’s Vault A curated library of AI tools mapped to Crawl → Walk → Run stages. Great cheat‑sheet for leveling up your team’s stack. Explore Here[Subscribe

From the Field: 🦃 Turkeys, Teams & Mashed Potatoes

I have a habit of frying turkeys, so naturally, I invited the Unburdn partners over to my place to try it out. We flew everyone in, fired up the oil, and thankfully, no one was injured and the house is still standing. The turkey was great, but honestly? It was upstaged by my wife Lauren's mashed potatoes. Looking at this photo of us in the kitchen, I’m reminding myself to zoom out. I’m grateful to have crossed paths with these guys. We aren't just building a rapidly growing business; we actually like hanging out with each other. That’s the real win. Thanks for reading. 🙏 Copyright (C) 2025 AI for the Rest of Us LLC dba Unburdn. All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe