I started running my AI like my fridge

Hi {{first_name|friend}},

Hope this finds you well. I want to tell you about a habit I picked up as a kid, long before any of this AI stuff existed, that turned out to be one of the more useful things I bring to it now. If you were raised not to waste anything, I think you've got the same habit sitting in your back pocket.

My Take

Growing up, we ate leftovers two or three nights a week. Nothing new came into the house until the fridge was empty, and I still shop that way, buying just enough for the week so nothing goes to waste.

Turns out that's a handy instinct to have around AI right now.

Forbes ran a piece this week on the $500 billion pouring into AI hardware. The companies writing those checks figured they were using somewhere between 51% and 70% of what they bought. Then someone actually measured it and the real number was only 5%. If you were raised not to waste anything, that probably makes you wince.

We can't do much about a $500 billion problem…but we can both do something about our own small corner of it.

So, half joking, I started running my AI the way I run my fridge. Before I ask for something new, I check what I already have. Most of what I need is already sitting in work I did weeks ago: a context file any AI can read, plus the handful of tasks I repeat saved so I'm not rebuilding them from scratch every session. Asking AI to regenerate something I already made feels wasteful, like scraping an uneaten good meal into the trash.

One moment last week confirmed this for me. I sat down to build a new feature for my website, ready to start from a new conversation. Something nagged at me, so I asked my AI what we had already worked out about it. Then the whole thing came back -- a plan I had fleshed out a month earlier and completely forgotten. I saved myself an afternoon of redoing work that was already done.

This is what I'm calling our attention to. The frugality you were raised with, turning off the light when you left a room, not letting the water run while you brushed your teeth, was more than just about lights or water. It came down to not paying for something you weren't using. You have been practicing that discipline your whole life. A lot of people racing into these tools never learned this lesson in the first place. But I'm pretty sure you did.

Brett

Try This Today

Run your AI like your fridge this week: before you ask it to make something new, check what you already have. The lasting version of this is a context file any AI can read, and the free About-Me tool builds you one in about ten minutes.

Here's the check itself:

1. Open the AI tool you use most and scroll back through your chats from the last few weeks.

2. Find one where you built, planned or drafted something real and then forgot about it.

3. Start a message and ask, "Remind me what we worked out about ___, and let's pick it back up," instead of starting from scratch.

4. I'm confident you'll skip a lot of rebuilding.

Watch: Some are using AI less than they used to. You?

@aiover50

#creatorsearchinsights Using AI less than you did 6 months ago? A Reddit thread full of people said the same thing this week, and I think... See more

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Tell me

What was the frugal rule in your house growing up, and does it still play a part in your life now? Reply to this email and tell me; can just be one line. I read every reply.