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Stage 0: AI Conversation & Prompt Fundamentals

Welcome to your AI office automation journey!

Why Choose AI Tools?​

AI tools have transformed the way we work. Without learning complex programming, you can simply describe your needs in natural language and let AI help you:

  • Automate repetitive office tasks (data cleaning, format conversion, file processing)
  • Generate weekly reports, summaries, email templates
  • Process Excel spreadsheets, generate SQL scripts
  • Batch rename files, convert image formats
  • Create office utilities and scripts

Watch this 5-minute Fireship intro video to understand how AI coding assistants work and learn practical tips to avoid common pitfalls.

Watch on YouTube

Learning Outcomes​

In this stage, you will learn to:

  • Use AI (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) to solve everyday office problems
  • Describe your needs through simple conversations to get working solutions
  • Understand the basic capabilities and limitations of AI tools
  • Master effective prompt techniques
  • Get started quickly without any programming background

Why "Minimum Necessary Knowledge"?​

You don't need to:

  • Learn programming language syntax
  • Understand algorithms and data structures
  • Become a technical expert
  • Spend months learning

You only need:

  • The ability to clearly describe your needs
  • Willingness to try and adjust
  • Basic computer operation skills
  • 30 minutes to 2 hours of learning time

Get Started Now​

Step 1: Choose an AI Tool​

The three most recommended:

1. ChatGPT (Easiest to start)

  • URL: https://chat.openai.com
  • Pros: User-friendly interface, stable results, good language support
  • Best for: Daily office tasks, text generation, Excel advice

2. Claude (Strongest reasoning)

  • URL: https://claude.ai
  • Pros: Understands long documents, strong coding ability, fluent responses
  • Best for: Code writing, data processing, complex tasks

3. Copilot (Microsoft ecosystem)

Step 2: Learn to Ask Questions​

Bad way to ask:

"Help me write code"

Good way to ask:

"I have an Excel spreadsheet with an employee list (columns: Name, Department, Hire Date). I need to group by department, count the number of people in each department, and generate a simple summary table. What's the easiest method?"

Even better:

"I have an Excel spreadsheet. Headers: Name, Department, Hire Date, Salary Data size: About 500 people Need: Count people and average salary by department, output as a new Excel file or CSV I don't know Python, but I'm willing to learn a simple script. How should I handle this?"

Step 3: Try Common Office Tasks​

Task 1: Generate a Weekly Report Template​

Prompt: Please generate a weekly report template for me, including:
- Main work completed this week (5-10 items)
- Problems encountered and solutions (2-3 items)
- Plans for next week (3-5 items)
- Items needing support (1-2 items)

Requirements: Clear format, can be directly copied to Word or Email

Task 2: Clean Excel Data​

Prompt: I have an Excel file with the following content:
[Paste first few rows of data]

Problems:
- Some cells have extra spaces
- Date formats are inconsistent ("2025-01-01" and "1/1/2025")
- Some data is duplicated

How can I quickly clean this in Excel? If code is needed, what language is simplest?

Task 3: Generate SQL Script​

Prompt: I need to query employee information from a database.

Table structure:
- Table name: employees
- Fields: id, name, department, hire_date, salary

Need: Query employees in IT department with salary over 10000, sorted by hire date

Please give me the SQL query (I can run it directly in a database tool)

Video Tutorials​

  1. Fireship: I built 10 web apps... with AI (in 14 minutes)

    • Why recommended: Fast-paced demo showing AI coding possibilities - great for beginner motivation
    • Duration: 14 minutes

  2. freeCodeCamp: AI-Powered Coding for Beginners

    • Why recommended: Comprehensive beginner-friendly tutorial covering AI-assisted coding basics
    • Duration: 2 hours

  3. Cursor IDE Tutorial for Beginners

    • Why recommended: Step-by-step guide to the most popular AI coding editor
    • Duration: 25 minutes

AI Tool Guides​

  1. GitHub Copilot Getting Started

    • Why recommended: Official documentation for one of the easiest AI coding tools

  2. ChatGPT for Coding: Complete Guide

    • Why recommended: Learn how to effectively use ChatGPT for coding questions and code generation
    • Duration: 45 minutes

Key Concepts​

What is a Prompt?​

A prompt is your instruction to the AI. The clearer it is, the better the result.

Three elements:

  1. Context - "I'm a project manager, I need..."
  2. Specific requirements - "Generate a 2-hour meeting agenda, including..."
  3. Expected format - "Output as a Markdown table"

Why Does AI Sometimes Fail?​

  • Insufficient information - AI doesn't know your exact needs
  • Language ambiguity - The same sentence can have multiple interpretations
  • Beyond capabilities - Some tasks really do require programming or specialized tools
  • Hallucination - AI sometimes confidently gives wrong answers

Solution: Ask questions, verify results, adjust step by step

FAQ​

Q: Can I use AI-generated code directly? A: Usually yes, but always check. For simple scripts (Excel, batch processing) it's quite reliable. For production system code, review is needed.

Q: Are free or paid tools better? A: Free versions are sufficient for learning and daily use. Paid versions mainly offer speed and unlimited usage. We recommend starting with free versions.

Q: How long to learn everyday applications? A: 2-3 hours to complete basic tasks. 1-2 weeks to master most common scenarios.

Q: Will I be replaced by AI? A: No. AI is a tool, not a replacement. What's truly valuable is people who know how to use AI.

Next Steps​

After completing this stage, you will:

  • βœ“ Be able to use AI for everyday office tasks
  • βœ“ Understand AI's capabilities and limitations
  • βœ“ Master basic prompt techniques
  • βœ“ Be ready to learn Stage 1: AI Reality & Limitations

Start Stage 1 β†’

Need help? Check out our Quick Start or Resources!