patrickzMake your first useful AI prompt
Turn a short note into an accurate action list you can verify.
10 min · Beginner
THE PRACTICAL AI LIBRARY
Learn something.
Make it useful.
57 hands-on guides from real experiments. Pick one outcome, follow the steps, and check what you made.
New to AI? Follow the beginner path ↗Just need a prompt? Browse the prompt library ↗
57 guides to explore
No guides match .
Try one of these: video · website · language · offline · prompt
Browse all 15 field notes · Start with the beginner path · Tell Patrick what you were looking for
Start with AI · 8
Check an AI answer for made-up facts in 15 minutes
See why a fluent answer can still be wrong, then check an AI’s claims outside the chat.
15 min · Beginner
Ask why before asking AI to build
Write a one-page problem brief with an explicit finish line.
15 min · Beginner
Compare AI tools on your own tasks with a simple scorecard
Build a small comparison sheet based on work you can judge.
35 min · Beginner
Improve a prompt in five attempts, one change at a time
Run five controlled attempts at one small task, in one sitting or one a day, and keep evidence of improvement.
30 min, or 15 min a day · Beginner
Learn AI tools by making one silly thing
Finish a tiny creative artifact and identify what each tool contributed.
30 min · Beginner
What to do when an AI project fails: a 20-minute review
Write a failure review that produces one smaller, testable next attempt.
20 min · Beginner
Get started with ChatGPT and Codex: a first harmless task
Choose the right workspace and complete a harmless first task.
25 min · Beginner
Everyday AI · 9
Write an AI context pack so answers fit your situation
Create a small context pack that makes a weekly planning answer specific and checkable.
25 min · Beginner
Translate a message with AI and check it is right
Prepare a short bilingual message with an explicit confirmation step.
25 min · Beginner
Turn a week of notes into a useful review
Produce an evidence-based weekly review and one action for next week.
20 min · Beginner
Turn a vague goal into a seven-day experiment
Replace an aspiration with a small experiment and a review rule.
20 min to plan · 7-day trial · Beginner
Use AI to edit without losing your voice
Improve one paragraph while retaining your facts, point of view and distinctive wording.
20 min · Beginner
Practice a language with AI role-play
Build a short role-play that tests meaning and keeps a text fallback.
25 min · Beginner
Study for an exam with AI: explain, quiz, apply
Create a short study loop that tests understanding against trusted material.
30 min · Beginner
Ask AI to spot patterns in your unfinished projects
Turn a small record of project decisions into a tentative pattern and a testable rule.
20 min · Beginner
Plan meals from what’s in your kitchen with AI
Create a plan and shopping list while keeping observed items separate from guesses.
20 min · Beginner
Create media · 5
Turn messy notes into a clear visual
Make a simple diagram whose labels and relationships can be traced to your notes.
30 min · Beginner
Make a short AI video with a clear purpose
Plan and assemble a short sequence with one emotional or educational point.
45 min · Beginner
Explain AI to others with a before-and-after demo
Design a short demonstration with a visible before, change and result.
35 min · Beginner
Plan an AI video that stays consistent
Create a three-shot production pack with reusable character references and review gates.
45 min · Some experience
Direct AI images with a reusable visual brief
Create two images for different uses while preserving a consistent visual identity.
30 min · Beginner
Build apps · 8
Build your first small app with an AI coding agent
Create and test one complete local interaction before choosing a production stack.
60 min · Some experience
Debug code with AI: write a bug report it can use
Prepare a reproducible bug report and verify one focused fix.
35 min · Some experience
Design an accessible communication prototype
Plan a small communication board with multiple ways to select and a visible cancel action.
45 min · Some experience
Give your coding agent a review checklist
Save a definition-of-done checklist in your project, then use it to review one small change with a meaningful test and a rollback point.
40 min · Some experience
Build a useful free tool: lessons from Reach
Define and test a small accessible tool with an ordinary-device fallback.
45 min · Some experience
Prototype a one-level game with AI
Build a small playable loop and use playtesting to control scope.
60 min · Some experience
Add a learning loop to a game
Design a game interaction that checks understanding and still works without a microphone.
45 min · Some experience
Publish a static site with a repeatable update path
Plan a site release with validation, a preview and a rollback checkpoint.
60 min · Some experience
Automate safely · 4
Plan a safe AI home assistant, starting with one lamp
Design one safe AI command for an imaginary lamp: the AI proposes, a simple rule decides, and failure is honest.
30 min · Some experience
Field-test AI on your phone: bad signal and interruptions
Try one AI task on your phone the way people really use it (distracted, on a bad connection, interrupted) and write three recovery rules.
30 min · Some experience
Run an AI model on your own computer with Ollama
Compare a local model with a known-answer task and document its limits.
45 min · Some experience
Automate a weekly task safely, then schedule it
Map a weekly task, test a draft-only version on three cases, then run it on a schedule you control, with a manual fallback.
40 min · Some experience
Work & business · 6
Plan a 45-minute hands-on AI workshop for beginners
Design a short workshop in which every participant completes and checks one task.
45 min to plan · 45-min session · Beginner
Design a useful website from a clear brief
Create a one-page site plan that helps a specific visitor take one action.
45 min · Beginner
Use AI to audit a confusing website
Produce a prioritized repair list based on the visitor’s main task.
30 min · Beginner
Write a one-page handoff brief with AI
Create an operating brief another person can use without reading your whole chat.
30 min · Beginner
Write marketing copy with AI without made-up claims
Create three consistent marketing drafts from one factual source brief.
35 min · Beginner
Turn a project into a credible portfolio story
Produce a short case study that separates your contribution, evidence and remaining limits.
50 min · Beginner
Project labs · 17
Bigger builds with a boundary and a test. See them grouped by type ↗
Build a tiny offline roguelike
Finish a one-room game with save, reload and a deliberate offline test.
90 min · Some experience · Uses a coding agent
Playable versionBuild a daily quest planner
Create a Today view with a persistent task and a useful evening review.
75 min · Some experience · Uses a coding agent
Build a small language-learning game
Make one playable language encounter with a text fallback.
90 min · Some experience · Uses a coding agent
Playable versionMake a shareable 3D character test page
Build a focused viewer that makes a visual bug reproducible.
60 min · Some experience · Uses a coding agent
Playable versionBuild an event page that answers real questions
Create a mobile-friendly event page with one verified booking route.
60 min · Some experience · Coding optional
Build a tracker that works without the network
Save, export and restore a small set of local records.
90 min · Some experience · Uses a coding agent
Playable versionBuild one mobile combat encounter
Make movement, one attack and restart work across keyboard and touch.
90 min · Some experience · Uses a coding agent
Playable versionBuild a small Markdown publishing system
Publish two readable posts with a dependable index and safe rendering.
60 min · Some experience · Uses a coding agent
Playable versionBuild a service website people can trust
Create a service page whose claims, scope and contact path are clear.
60 min · Some experience · Coding optional
Build a research assistant from sample listings
Normalize and compare listings without silently inventing missing facts.
75 min · Some experience · Uses a coding agent
Plan a game as small playable milestones
Produce an implementation plan with a testable first milestone.
50 min · Some experience · Coding optional
Organize an AI video production pipeline
Create a file-based shot register with versions, references and review status.
75 min · Some experience · Coding optional
Build a searchable prompt library for your team
Create a small library of reviewed prompts people can search, copy and check against a rubric.
60 min · Some experience · Coding optional
Playable versionLearn game fundamentals by building Pong
Finish a small match with deterministic scoring and restart.
90 min · Some experience · Uses a coding agent
Build one secure full-stack interaction
Design and test one create-and-list flow with a server-side user boundary.
90 min · Some experience · Uses a coding agent
Model private information in multiplayer
Separate public room state from private player information.
60 min · Some experience · Uses a coding agent
Prove a phone can reach your API
Retire connectivity uncertainty before adding an AI feature.
75 min · Some experience · Uses a coding agent
Field notes that match
How AI actually answers (and why it sounds sure when it’s wrong)
What a chat assistant is really doing when it answers you, why it can sound certain and still be wrong, and a simple habit for trusting it the right amount.
8 min read
Give AI the context it actually needs
Learn what an AI can actually see when it answers, and how to hand it a small, dated context pack that turns a generic reply into one that fits your life.
8 min read
Ask why before you ask how
Many disappointing AI results answer the wrong question. Here's how to pin down the real problem first, so the AI's speed works for you.
7 min read
AI does the work faster. Judging it is still your job
Why making more with AI won't improve your results, and a simple practice loop that trains the judgment that will.
7 min read
Stop asking which AI is best. Test it on your own work
Why AI rankings can't choose your tools, and how to test them on a small bench of your own tasks.
8 min read
Metaprompting: let AI write the prompt, then check the work
Learn the create, review, revise loop: AI writes better instructions, checks its draft against your checklist and fixes one thing at a time, and you make the call.
8 min read
Use AI as a mirror, not a judge
Learn how to let AI find patterns in your own notes, calendar or chats, make it show its evidence, and turn one finding into a small experiment you can test.
8 min read
Copilot Cowork tutorial: build and schedule your first skill
A getting-started guide and a five-minute video for Microsoft 365 Copilot Cowork: have it find a repetitive process in your email, map the decisions, turn them into a shareable skill, and run that skill on a schedule, with guardrails that keep you in charge.
10 min read
Build an app with an AI agent, one proven slice at a time
Learn to tell an AI coding agent what “done” looks like before it builds, then ship a small app in thin slices you can prove actually work.
8 min read
How to debug with AI: give it evidence, not guesses
Learn six steps for finding out why something broke (a game, a spreadsheet, a prompt) so the AI works from evidence, not guesses.
8 min read
I turned a weekend into a Phantasy Star music video
Space wizards. Expiring credits. A production workflow that became almost as interesting as the film.
12 min read
I gave three AIs my LinkedIn archive. They built this website
One hundred and four posts, two years of ideas and zero websites. Here is the exact workflow, the prompts and the guardrails that turned them into patrickz.ai, plus the instructional video I made about it.
12 min read
Twenty people needed training. I gave my anime pipeline a night shift
A request to train 20 new team members became a practical test of GPT-6: could the workflow I used for anime music videos make useful training material while I slept?
13 min read
I had a flight to Thailand. So AI rebuilt Mario with me in it
In one day, parallel AI agents rebuilt Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda starring me, upscaled and over the top, playable on my phone. The real lesson was how to direct agents and let a bot judge their work.
10 min read
Build for one real person first
Learn to start an AI project from one person's real needs, pick the easiest input that works for them, keep a non-AI fallback, and measure what matters to them.
8 min read
Based on an archive of 104 LinkedIn posts, four newer posts, and 18 project write-ups, with additional foundation lessons.
See the sources and coverage ↗