Thursday, June 11th, 2026
Happy Thursday!
Welcome back to HOW TO // AI — glad you're here!
Here's what we've got for ya:
🧠 Your AI Forgets You — Here's the 10-Minute Fix
📥 Free Download: The AI Memory Kit (Notion Template)
🎯 Find Your AI Level — Take the Free Quiz
Let's get started!
🧠 Your AI Forgets You
Think about how many times this week you started an AI chat by explaining who you are.
New chat: "I run a small business..."
New chat: "I'm not a designer, keep it simple..."
New chat: "Write like me, not like a robot..."
It's like having a brilliant assistant who gets amnesia every single night. And it's exactly why so many AI answers come back generic. The AI isn't being lazy. It just has no idea who it's talking to.
Last week I shared the short prompts I use most. This week is the other half of that equation: what your AI should already know before you type anything at all. The setup takes about ten minutes, you do it once, and every answer after that gets sharper.
🎁 Free download: The AI Memory Kit
A fill-in-the-blank profile your AI reads before every conversation, plus the setup steps for Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini.
The fix: write it down once
The trick is giving your AI a short standing note about you that it sees before you ask anything. The same way an assistant who has worked with you for a year gives better answers than a temp on day one. Not because they're smarter. Because they know you.
It's nine lines total, in three parts. Fill in the brackets with your real answers.
1. Tell it who you are
The stuff you'd tell a new coworker on day one. Your role, what you bring AI most often, and where you need it to skip the basics or slow down.
Who I am: [your role and what your work actually involves]
What I usually need help with: [the 2-3 things you bring AI most]
What I know well, and what I don't: [so it skips the basics, or explains gently]
2. Tell it how to talk to you
This is the part almost nobody sets, and it's the one you feel immediately. Format, voice, and your pet peeves.
How I want answers: [short and direct? step-by-step? examples first?]
My voice: [plain and warm, formal, no buzzwords. Give one sample line.]
Always avoid: [hype, fluff, jargon. Your pet peeves.]
3. Give it your ground rules
What you're focused on right now, plus two rules that stop the things AI does that drive people crazy: guessing, and agreeing with everything.
What I'm working on right now: [optional, but it helps]
When you're unsure: ask me a question instead of guessing.
Push back if I'm about to make a mistake. I'd rather hear it.
Nine lines. Dull to write, and worth more than any clever prompt you'll ever learn. If you want the whole thing as one ready-to-paste block, it's in the free download.
Where to put it
Every major tool has a home for this now:
Claude: Go to Settings → General → Profile and paste your profile into the Instructions for Claude. Every chat starts already knowing you.
ChatGPT: Settings, then Personalization, then Custom Instructions. Your profile goes in the "What would you like ChatGPT to know about you?" box.
Grok: Settings → Customize → Customize Grok’s Response
Gemini: Settings, then Saved Info. Same content, same effect.
The before and after that sold me
I asked the same question two ways: "Give me three ideas to grow my email list."
In a cold chat, I got: post consistently on social, run a giveaway, add a popup. Thanks, internet.
With my profile loaded, it knew I run a small newsletter solo, I hate gimmicks, and I want things I can do in an afternoon. So it gave me three ideas sized to me, with the trade-offs spelled out. Same model. The only difference was that it knew who was asking.
💡 "Most people try to fix generic AI answers with better prompts. The real fix is making sure AI knows who it's talking to."
The full kit, with the fill-in profile, the setup steps for each tool, and the four prompts that build and maintain it, is in the free download above.
If you're newer to all this, the 4 AI skill levels issue shows where personalization fits on the curve, and the tool stack issue covers which AI to set this up in first.
🎯 Try this today: Write just the first three lines — who you are, what you usually need, and how you want answers. Paste them into your AI before your next question and watch what changes. Then reply and tell me what happened — I read every one.
One more thing. I've been quietly working on something for the past few months. It's the biggest thing I've made since starting this newsletter, and if you've taken the quiz, you're going to want it. More next week.
📬 In Case You Missed Our Last Few Issues
⚡ The prompts I use most
The six short prompts I reach for almost every day. Free Tiny But Mighty Prompt Pack included.
🏆 Which AI are you?
The 4 AI skill levels and how to move up each one. Free Level Up Your AI Cheat Sheet included.
🧰 The AI tool I use most
The full stack I use and how to pick the right AI for any job. Free Right Tool Cheat Sheet included.
🎯 Find Your AI Level
How much you personalize your AI is one of the clearest signs of where you are on the skill curve. Beginners start every chat from scratch. People further along set it up once and never look back.
I built a free 5-minute quiz that tells you your exact level, what's working, and the one move that would push you to the next one. Seven questions, no email required, instant result.
People keep replying with "this is uncomfortably accurate," which is exactly what I was going for.
What did you think of this newsletter?
🤔 Got Questions?
Have a question you want answered? Email [email protected] and you just might be featured in an upcoming issue!
This newsletter is your starter kit for mastering AI with confidence. We keep things simple, show real examples, and focus on quick wins you can repeat.
Stay curious, stick with it, and watch your skills grow week by week!
Until next time :)
— David
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