5 Things I Teach People ASAP About Generative AI

By Trailblaze Labs | Published 2025-09-13 | Education | 8 min read

Essential AI fundamentals everyone should know: from privacy settings to model selection, iteration techniques, and choosing the right platform for your needs.

1. Privacy Settings Aren't Optional, They're Step One

The number one fear I hear when I coach someone new to AI is: "Wait… are my chats searchable?" Good news: you're not that interesting. Better news: you can flip a switch. In ChatGPT, you can turn off "improve the model for everyone." That means your chats aren't fed back into the training data. In Claude, it's automatically off.

2. Teach the AI About You Once, Not 87 Times

Inside ChatGPT you can set "custom instructions." Tell it your role, what kind of answers you like, and even your pet peeves. That way, every prompt doesn't have to start with a biography. Seconds saved turn into hours over time.

3. Don't Always Trust the "Auto" Button

Get familiar with what the models do best: ChatGPT tends to be the heavy-hitter for reasoning, strategy, and nuanced long-form work. Claude often shines at tone — empathetic, human-sounding writing. Gemini is strong at multi-modal tasks, especially when you're juggling text, images, or code.

4. Iteration > Inspiration

AI is less like a genie granting perfect wishes and more like improv comedy. You throw out a line, it throws something back, and eventually you get to something great, but only if you stay in the scene. Ask it to reframe. Push it to get more specific. Feed it examples of what "good" looks like.

5. Find Your Favorite, but Know Switching Gets Messy

As these tools get better at remembering your past work and preferences, hopping between them will feel like moving between apartments every other weekend. Try multiple. Then commit to the one that feels most natural.

Final Whistle

If you're just starting out with generative AI, don't get overwhelmed. It's like learning to drive: check your mirrors (privacy), adjust your seat (custom instructions), know which gear to use (models), don't panic when you stall (iteration), and eventually you'll pick a car you like best.