Cooking Up AI Tips for 2025!

In September of 2024, David Maldow and I launched our new "The AI Chefs" show where we serve up tips and tricks related to using generative AI, which we call recipes.

We fully embrace cooking analogies as we share ways you can incorporate AI into both your personal and business lives. Plus, we often share some interesting food history to keep things fun.

Here's a recap of our 2024 episodes. Expect lots more from The AI Chefs in 2025.

Episode 1

David’s Tip: Did you know that AI performs better when it knows a bit about who you are? David explains how introducing yourself to AI helps personalize responses, resulting in more relevant and helpful answers.

Kevin’s Tip: AI isn’t just for writing—it can format responses too! Kevin shows how you can get AI to generate tables, charts, and more, making your data easier to visualize and share.

Episode 2: Rubber Duck Debugging & Socratic Questioning for AI

David’s Tip – “Roast Rubber Duck”: Learn how the classic “Rubber Duck Debugging” method can be applied to AI. David shows you how explaining your problem to an AI, much like you would to a rubber duck, can help you identify solutions by forcing you to break it down step-by-step. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging

Kevin’s Tip – “Socratic Salad”: Kevin shares how AI can act as a Socratic coach by asking probing questions to guide your thinking. Instead of just giving answers, AI can help you reach conclusions by making you think critically about the problem.

Episode 3: AI Chefs Restaurant Review: Enterprise Connect AI 2024

Chef Kevin recently attended Enterprise Connect 2024 in Santa Clara. Join us as Kevin shares his experience and gives the conference his Chef’s rating!

Episode 4: Amuse-Bouche and Upside Down Catfish

Kevin’s Tip – “Amuse-Bouche”: Sometimes AI needs a little taste of what you’re asking for. Kevin explains how providing AI with small, focused details and letting it ask clarifying questions can lead to much more accurate and helpful responses.

David’s Tip – “Upside Down Catfish”: Worried that the person you’re chatting with online might be a bot? David shares his Upside Down Catfish technique—a smart way to determine if your conversation partner is a real person or an AI by tricking it into revealing it’s true nature.

Episode 5: AI Bouillabaisse & Podcast Paté

David’s Tip – “AI Bouillabaisse”: Got a mix of ideas you’re working through? David explains how you can toss a “bouillabaisse” of thoughts, questions, or prompts at AI, letting it organize and prioritize the information. Perfect for brainstorming and sorting through complex ideas!

? Kevin’s Tip – “Podcast Paté”: Want to turn text into audio? Kevin shares how AI can take written content and create a quality audio podcast from it, opening up new ways to repurpose content and reach an audience through audio.

Episode 6: Black Forest Horror Cake & Overly Helpful Omelets

Kevin’s Tip – “Black Forest Horror Cake”: Want a new perspective on your resume? Kevin shares a spooky twist—having AI rewrite your resume as a horror story. It’s a fun way to see your skills in a different light and test AI’s storytelling powers!

David’s Tip – “Overly Helpful Omelets”: Ever wonder if AI is giving you the truth or just what it thinks you want to hear? David shows how to avoid overly helpful responses and get AI to deliver honest, factual answers—even when they aren’t what you expect.

Episode 7: Expert Sear and Layered Bologna Cake

David’s Tip – “Expert Sear”: Sometimes, AI gives better answers when it “plays a role.” David shares how asking AI to take on a specific persona—like a marketing expert, historian, or teacher—can lead to richer, more focused responses. It’s a great way to sear in that extra layer of expertise when you need a deeper answer.

Kevin’s Tip – “Layered Bologna Cake”: Not everything deserves a sugarcoated response! Kevin shows how to ask AI to critique your work honestly. By allowing AI to be constructively critical, you can improve your projects, like fixing a “bologna cake” idea which needs serious help.

Episode 8: Christmas Pudding & Feasibility Fruitcake

Kevin’s Tip – “Christmas Pudding”: Get into the holiday spirit with AI-generated fun! Kevin shows how to use AI to create personalized Christmas poems based on your LinkedIn bio. It’s a playful way to spread holiday cheer and show off your creative side.

David’s Tip – “Feasibility Fruitcake”: Got a big idea? Don’t just ask AI if it’s a good one, get a full assessment! David demonstrates how to ask AI to break down the pros and cons of your idea. This approach helps you make more informed decisions and avoid falling into the trap of AI telling you what it thinks you want to hear.

Episode 9: AI Potluck and Learning Lasagna

Kevin’s Tip – “AI Potluck”: Bring the right ingredients to the table! Kevin demonstrates how to use tools like Gemini NotebookLM to feed AI a custom set of data, shaping its output to meet your specific needs. Just like at a potluck, what you bring determines the meal, and with AI, your results improve when you provide the right inputs.

David’s Tip – “Learning Lasagna”: AI as your personal instructor? Yes, please! David shares how he’s using ChatGPT to tailor guitar and music theory lessons to his current skill level. Unlike one-size-fits-all tutorials on YouTube, this approach builds a layered learning experience that’s perfectly suited to his abilities and goals.

As you can hopefully tell, David and I have lots of fun creating these AI tips episodes.

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If you have suggestions for The AI Chefs or would be interested in discussing sponsoring an episode, please connect with us.