4 Ways AI Has Changed the Way I Work
From search to meeting notes to building websites
Google Search has been replaced
Last month I wanted to see Chromeo at a Chicago street fest. What I didn’t know was would they perform live or just do a DJ set? The event site didn’t say.
Google pointed me back to the fest site. But Perplexity gave me the answer straight from Chromeo's website.
That moment converted me. I now start every search with Perplexity
The paradigm shift is going from a search engine to an answer engine.
But the answers are backed with citations. I still click through to sources like I would with Google, but I know what I'll find before I get there.
Google has been broken for too long. It created an industry of spam and SEO. If you ever wondered why you have to scroll to the bottom of a recipe page to find actual ingredients—blame Google's keyword-ranking method.
Meeting Notes Are Now Optional
I never figured out how to take good notes and actively listen in meetings. Now when I can, I record meetings and have AI summarize them.
I still jot down in the moment since writing helps you think better, but the days of writing everything is over.
We could always record meetings before but who has the time to rewatch?
AI doesn't just summarize—it finds what matters. I'll feed it transcripts with prompts like:
What were the action steps for Irfan
Tell me when we talked about the timeline for this project
I tested this at a conference in April, recording sessions on my iPhone in a packed auditorium way in the last row. AI turned an iffy transcript into clear summaries from each speaker.
Code Without Coding
I'm not a coder, but I use R at work to analyze large datasets. AI turns me from a novice to a pro. My primary tool is Claude to modify code and teach me what packages or functions I need to do a certain task.
Reading code remains crucial, but writing is becoming something we can outsource to AI in the near future.
Turning Ideas into Apps
Vibe coding lets you use AI to build a product.
There are AI editors like Cursor, Bolt, and Replit turn simple prompts into working websites.
I created my own Linktree-style personal website (irfanbhanji.com) in less than 20 minutes.
My second project was more ambitious.
I built bearsprediction.com as something for my brother and I to track how the Chicago Bears will do in 2025. It took 30 hours and hit plenty of bugs, but a year ago none of this was possible.
It's early days, but the possibilities with AI are huge.
Thanks for reading!
Irfan
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