Automate tasks with AI

Start with a repetitive task you already do by hand (answering a certain type of email, copying data from a document into a spreadsheet, summarising meetings) and ask an AI assistant with access to those tools to do it while you check the result. Automating with AI means the AI carries out steps for you, not just that it answers you.

There are two main routes. One is workflow tools, like n8n, Make or Zapier, where you draw the steps one by one and the AI is just one more piece. The other is agents: AI programs you give a job to in plain language and connect to your email, calendar or files so they can act. What usually confuses people is believing that automating means installing something and forgetting about it. At first you have to review, correct and grant permissions carefully, because an automation that fails silently is worse than not having one.

In my case, a good chunk of what I used to build as workflows I now simply ask the AI to do, and I explain why in "Why I no longer need n8n", including the cases where workflows still make sense. And if you've seen the "automate your life in 10 minutes" videos, in "Can you automate your life in ten minutes?" I put that promise to the test with my own tasks.