My mother-in-law is starting a food business. As the person helping her figure out the logistics, I got handed a 40-page compliance document — the rules her company needs to follow just to operate legally.
I also have an 8-month-old at home. No family nearby to help. You can do the math on how much free time I have.
That document sat on my desk for two days. I wanted to help. I just couldn't find a two-hour window that didn't already belong to someone who needed feeding or rocking to sleep.
Then I remembered: I have an intern for this.
I dropped the document into Claude — free, takes about 30 seconds to set up — typed one question, and had a clean summary of exactly what we needed to focus on and what we could safely set aside. What would have been a two-hour obligation on a sleep-deprived evening became a 10-minute task.
That's the whole pitch. Let me show you how.
First, Meet Your New Intern
Before we get into the how, I want to reframe how you think about AI — because I think the way most people picture it is what makes it feel so intimidating.
Forget the robots. Forget the sci-fi. Forget every breathless headline you've read about it.
Here's how I actually think about it: AI is a fast, eager, occasionally clueless digital intern.
This intern can read a 40-page document in 90 seconds. They'll pull out the key points, flag what needs your attention, and hand it back to you in plain English. But — and this matters — they'll sometimes get things slightly wrong, or miss a nuance that only you, with your actual experience and context, would catch.
So you check their work before you act on it. Just like you would with any intern.
You're the boss. They're doing the legwork. That's the whole deal.
The Villain: That Document You're Expected to Have Read
You know the one.
It shows up attached to a meeting invite. Or it's the industry report everyone on your team is "aligning on." Or it's the proposal a colleague spent three weeks on and needs your feedback on by Friday.
These documents aren't bad. There's just no version of your already-full day where reading all 40 pages actually happens.
This is exactly where your intern earns their keep.
The Hero: ChatGPT (Free. No Credit Card.)
I used Claude personally — it's what I had open at the time. But for your first try, I'm going to point you to ChatGPT, because it's the tool most people have already heard of and the signup is painless.
Quick note: ChatGPT, Claude, and Google Gemini can all do this exact task equally well. If you already have an account with any of them, just use that one. Don't overthink the choice — the tool matters far less than actually getting started.
Here's the whole workflow:
Step 1: Go to chatgpt.com and create a free account.
Step 2: Start a new chat and click the paperclip icon to attach your document. It accepts PDFs, Word docs, and most common file types.
Step 3: Paste this prompt and hit send:
Please go through this document and give me:
1. A plain-English summary in 3-5 sentences
2. The 3-5 most important takeaways I need to know
3. Anything I should be cautious about or that deserves a closer look
That's it. Within two minutes you'll have a clear picture of what you're actually dealing with — without having read a single page.
The Honest Part (Please Don't Skip This)
I'd be doing you a disservice if I didn't flag a few things upfront.
It can get things wrong. AI can misread data, miss important context, or occasionally state something confidently that is just... not accurate. For anything high-stakes, always do a quick skim of the original before you act on the summary.
Watch what you upload. If the document contains sensitive company information, confidential client data, or anything your HR or legal team would wince at — don't put it into a free tool. Check your company's policy first. Start with lower-stakes documents while you're still getting comfortable.
This is a head start, not a shortcut. The summary gets you oriented. It tells you where to focus your attention so that when you do engage with the real thing — or walk into that meeting — you're following along instead of scrambling to catch up.
Think of it as reading the map before the hike. You still do the hike.
What This Is Really About
I'm not here to tell you that AI is going to change everything and you need to get on board or get left behind. That kind of talk exhausted me before I even started.
What I can tell you is this: that 40-page compliance document got handled. My mother-in-law's business moved forward. And I still had time that evening to be present with my family instead of hunched over a document I barely had the energy to read.
AI handled the busywork. I brought the judgment.
That trade is available to you, for free, starting today.
Try it this week with something low-stakes — a long email thread, a meeting agenda, a report you've been putting off. You don't have to trust it fully yet. Just meet it.
I'll be here when you're ready for the next one.
— Kenny
