Hi Reader,
Every Monday I bring you one thing worth knowing and one thing worth trying.
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The big thought...
The big thought...
This summer, I set out to build my son an AI curriculum. My goal was to introduce him to how to use AI efficiently, but still maintain control and his own voice.
With twenty years in tech behind me, I watched the Internet rise, watched people fear it, and then watched them adopt it. Sooo, I really thought I knew the assignment. Teach him the tools, teach him to prompt, then teach him how to ask AI what he wants, clearly and concisely. I built the whole thing, all 10 lessons.
Then, I stepped back and looked at it as a mom, and a human, rather than a tech professional. I saw that those skills were only about 30% of it.
Here is what the other 70% turned out to be.
Raise a good human. Yes. So simple, and yet so hard.
For me it looks like this. Teach him to question things and use his own discernment. Give him enough experiences that he can compare them and decide what he loves and what he doesn't. Send him outside every day, preferably in nature. Protect his creativity. Whatever he is drawn to, notice it, then nurture it.
Above all. Raise him with love, and listen to him. Really listen.
Funny thing, that was always the goal.
With all the AI hype out there about what you should or shouldn't do, just know that as a parent navigating this ever-evolving world, what you are doing is right. Only you know your children. Only you know how to raise them. This is the important work, and the biggest percentage, and does not require one single AI tool.
Now, let's chat about that other 30%.
How I am introducing AI to my teen. Always look at the big picture first. What is the outcome, and what does that look like? Before you touch a prompt, get clear on the result you actually want, and describe it, concisely and in detail. I always remind him: AI tools are here to assist him. They should never replace his thinking or his words. Words are powerful and unique to the person. When chosen correctly, they can move mountains.
Set up your tools so that they know you and your purpose, even before you start. When AI understands who you are, two things happen. First, you do not drift off track or go down that crazy rabbit hole. Second, it will remind you of items you forgot to ask, the ones that actually matter to you.
Then assess the content. AI will hand you pages and pages. Your job is to take it in, assess it, and refine it down to what is necessary, what matters most, and what is correct. That is reading comprehension in a nutshell, and it might be the most underrated AI skill there is.
Focus on raising the good human first. The tools will come second. Know that you are already on track, and let the rest fall where it may.
From the Studio
Remember that 30%? Here is how I introduced one AI tool to my son.
My son rides bikes, downhill biking to be specific. He can do it every day, all day. As it happens, maintenance equals performance, so he wants to maintain and customize his bike. He wants to be the one who knows how it works and how to fix it when required.
So that is where we started with AI. Together. With something he is interested in.
We built a Claude Project around his bike. First, the instructions. We told Claude who he is. "He is 13, has been riding since he was small, and just started competing. He knows his way around basic maintenance, but he is still a beginner mechanic."
Then we added the files: the exact brand of bike he rides, and the manual for it.
Now when he starts in that Project, it's not a one-off question typed into a blank box. It is a space that knows him, knows his bike, and can give him a strong first answer to his prompt.
So when he runs into something he doesn't understand, he is not starting from zero. He is going deeper into a thing he already cares about, and learning to do it himself.
Here is how to build one for yourself. Pick the thing you want to start with, and set up a Project.
Step 1: Open Claude and create a new Project.
Step 2: Name it.
Step 3: Write the instructions. Tell it who you are. (You can always amend as you go.)
Step 4: Upload the relevant files. For my guy, it was the manual for his exact bike. Whatever the AI should read before it answers your question.
Step 5: Start every conversation inside that Project. Then the context is already there.
Prompt of the Week
The hardest part of setting up a Claude Project is the instructions, that box where you tell it who you are and what you want in this Project. Most people leave it blank because they don't know what to write. So let Claude write it with you. Paste this into a fresh chat and let it interview you. When it's done, copy the result into your Project's instructions and it'll know you from the first conversation on.
— — —
"I'm setting up a Project in Claude and I need to write the instructions for it, the part that tells you who I am and how to help me.
Interview me to build those instructions. Ask me one question at a time. Cover who I am, what I do, who I serve, how I like to work, what I want from you inside this Project, and what 'good' looks like to me. Keep going until you have enough to be genuinely useful. And ask me the things I might forget to mention but would want you to know.
When you're done, write it back as a clean set of Project instructions I can copy and paste straight into the instructions box, in plain language, written as if I'm telling you how to work with me."
— — —
That last part matters. The questions it asks are often the ones you forgot you cared about.
Built in the Studio. Yours to keep.
Start there. Just one thing. That is the move.
You've got this. And now you've got the tools to prove it.
Kate Kozak
Kateology AI Studio | Kateology.ca
