Beyond ChatGPT: How to use Gen AI to work smarter
Generative artificial intelligence (or Gen AI) has become one of those tools people hear about everywhere, on social media, in meetings and even in casual office conversations.
Most of the time, it’s associated with one thing: ChatGPT. You ask it a question and it answers. You type a message; it fixes the grammar. You need help writing and it gives you a draft.
But that’s only the surface.
We asked Herleenor Mortera, subject matter expert of Inquirer Academy on managing work with AI, about her thoughts on maximizing AI in the workplace.
Gen AI can be much more useful when you start treating it like a daily support tool for work. Not something you use occasionally, but something that helps you move faster through tasks that usually take too much time—without lowering quality.
If you’ve ever ended a workday feeling exhausted yet still behind, these are three simple ways Gen AI can help you work smarter, beyond just “asking ChatGPT.”
1) Use Gen AI to start faster.
A big part of productivity is momentum, and the hardest part of many tasks is simply getting started. Gen AI helps you skip the blank page and gives you a solid first draft you can improve right away.
Example prompts you can use:
- “Draft a professional email requesting an extension and propose a revised deadline.”
- “Create a meeting agenda for a weekly team update with action items.”
- “Outline a short project update report I can send to stakeholders.”
2) Use Gen AI to communicate more clearly.
Work slows down when messages aren’t clear—especially when teams have to go back and forth just to confirm what needs to be done. Gen AI can help you explain things better the first time, whether you’re speaking to a client, a manager or your own team.
Example prompts you can use:
• “Rewrite this message to sound clearer and more professional.”
• “Summarize this long update into five bullet points that are easy to read.”
• “Turn this idea into a step-by-step instruction a team member can follow.”
3) Use Gen AI to make repeated work easier.
Many professionals are busy not because the work is difficult, but because the same work keeps repeating updates, trackers, checklists, reports and routine messages. Gen AI can help you turn those into simple templates so future tasks become faster and more consistent.
Example prompts you can use:
- “Create a weekly progress update template I can reuse every Friday.”
- “Make a simple onboarding checklist for new hires.”
- “Write a step-by-step process for handling escalations and tracking resolution.”
Gen AI won’t replace your skills, your judgment or the way you lead. The best results happen when you use it as support, not as a substitute.
What makes it powerful isn’t the technology itself—it’s the way it quietly removes friction from your day. It helps you start faster when you’re stuck, write more clearly when you’re rushing and finish repetitive tasks without draining your energy.
And over time, those small improvements add up. Work feels lighter. Tasks move faster.
You stay more focused. You get more done, without feeling like you’re always running out of time.
At the end of the day, it’s not about replacing people—it’s about helping people breathe while still getting things done.
Mortera will facilitate an online workshop titled “Generative AI for the Workplace: Practical Tools for Efficiency and Productivity” on Feb. 26 and Feb. 27. The eight-hour online course will help office workers and managers to get more done and achieve efficient results at work.
For your employees’ learning and development, Inquirer Academy can help you in designing and facilitating a training program. For more information, write to ask@ inquireracademy.com, or send an SMS to 0919-3428667 and 0998-9641731.
