How to Start Using AI Without Feeling Overwhelmed

Making AI Approachable: Highlights from June 13’s “Ask Me About AI” Office Hour

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed trying to figure out where AI fits into your everyday work, you’re not alone. That’s exactly why Open Office Hours exist—to turn the flood of AI possibilities into something more grounded, friendly, and useful.

The June 13 session gathered a mix of realtors, artists, educators, and tech-minded folks, all at different points on their AI paths. Some had been deep in experimentation all week, while others came simply to listen and learn.

Start Where You Are

Terza opened with a simple goal: “To make AI available and accessible to everyone with clarity and simplicity.” That tone of ease and welcome carried throughout the session.

Helen admitted, “I have ChatGPT’d myself out this week… It’s been awesome. So I’m just here to learn today.” Paul, recently retired, was diving into Google’s Notebook LM to explore business use cases. Others had questions about creating content—from nurture emails to YouTube videos.

What became clear: no matter your background, there’s always a place to start—and start small.

AI for Branding, Marketing, and Momentum

Teresa, developing a wellness course, wanted help creating a consistent look and feel for her materials. Could AI assist with brand kits and logos? Absolutely—but prompts matter.

Terza offered a go-to prompt structure for ChatGPT:

• Describe your business, audience, and style.

• Share your preferences (colors, fonts, tone).

• Suggest ideas for icons or taglines.

The more detail you give, the better the results. Helen added a tip: use AI to build a full brand kit—fonts, logos, and design elements that keep everything consistent.

Stef, a developer running a private AI workspace, asked about reaching more clients. Instead of general tips, Terza walked through using ChatGPT to generate a marketing campaign, including templates for reuse.

Even ChatGPT (nicknamed “Sol” here) joined in, offering platform advice for promoting privacy-first services: try LinkedIn for B2B, Reddit for community buzz, and YouTube for tutorials—all on a lean budget.

The emphasis wasn’t on pushing content. It was on collaboration—with AI as a helpful assistant, not a faceless machine.

Avoiding the Overwhelm

With so many tools out there, it’s easy to feel buried. The group shared a mix of encouragement and caution.

Sites like There's an AI for That can be great for discovery—but also a rabbit hole. The advice?

• Use what serves your current need.

• Ask ChatGPT to compare tools or explain terms simply.

• Save your best prompts and results in a doc or folder.

When questions came up about ownership of AI-generated content, the answer was grounded: read the terms. If unsure, copy and paste them into ChatGPT for a plain-language explanation. And always double-check your rights, especially for logos and designs.

AI as a Practice, Not a Race

By the end, one theme stood out: AI doesn’t have to be a rush to keep up—it can be a process of thoughtful learning.

Amy said it best: “Any questions you just asked it… ChatGPT has an answer for.”

Whether you’re building a course, experimenting with video, or just curious what’s possible, you don’t have to do it alone. Join us next week, bring your questions, and meet others navigating the same terrain.

Because this isn’t about being first. It’s about finding your way—together.