Finding Joy in AI

This content was originally featured in the March 5th, 2025 newsletter found here: INBOX INSIGHTS. March 5, 2025: Finding Joy in AI, Deep Research Prompting

Finding Your Joy in Generative AI

I’ve never been the person who gets excited about new tech just because it’s new tech. When everyone was raving about the latest shiny object, I was thinking, “But does it actually solve a problem I have?” I’m not someone that loves to “tinker” with tech.

Last month, I found myself staring at a pile of seed packets on my kitchen table. I had grand plans for my garden this year, but the thought of manually creating a planting schedule made me want to abandon the whole project. Every seed packet has different but similar instructions. Seeds are temperamental if you get the timing and temperature wrong. I was totally overwhelmed.

That’s when it clicked. What if I used generative AI to create my gardening schedule? Not because I wanted to play with AI, but because I wanted to get to the gardening part faster. I wanted to be outside, with my hands in the dirt, getting things going.

The Problem with Tech Adoption

Most tech demonstrations focus on the technology itself:

• “Look at this amazing LLM that can write poetry!”
• “See how this AI can generate images from text!”
• “Check out the code this model can write!”

That’s all fascinating to tech enthusiasts, but for the rest of us? It’s about as exciting as watching paint dry. No wonder adoption can be slow. I promise, this isn’t an attack on those of you who are tech enthusiasts. I love you all.

The problem isn’t the technology—it’s how we’re introducing it.

Finding Your Meaningful Use Case

What made generative AI click for me wasn’t its technical capabilities—it was how it connected to something I actually care about. The key is identifying where technology can remove friction between you and activities that bring you value or joy:

1. Identify your friction points. What tasks do you consistently avoid or procrastinate on? These are prime candidates for technological assistance.
2. Recognize your motivation drivers. What activities energize you? Understanding what pulls you forward can help you find where tech can accelerate your path.
3. Look for the “necessary but not fulfilling” tasks. These transitional tasks—like my garden planning—are perfect for technological intervention.
4. Consider your learning style. Some people learn by doing, others by observing. The right tech introduction should match how you naturally process new information.

My AI Gardening Experience

When I used Gemini to create my gardening schedule, I simply:

1. Uploaded photos of my seed packets
2. Provided the Old Farmer’s Almanac planting guide based on my zip code
3. Asked it to create a planting schedule based on my hardiness zone
4. Requested it to organize everything in a spreadsheet format with reminders

Was it perfect? Nope. I had to make some adjustments. But it saved me hours of research and organization that would have kept me inside instead of where I wanted to be—in my garden.

The tech wasn’t the star. Getting to gardening faster was.

Making Tech Click for Others

If you’re trying to encourage tech adoption, try this approach:

1. Start with their motivation. Ask: “What’s something you love doing or need to do, but find certain parts tedious?”
2. Connect the technology to that specific need. Explain: “This tool can handle the tedious part so you can spend more time on what matters to you.”
3. Make it practical, not theoretical. Show: Don’t explain how AI works—show how it creates more time for what matters.
4. Focus on results, not features. Emphasize: “You will spend 70% less time on paperwork and more time with clients.”

Finding Your Own Use Case

Here’s a simple exercise I use with my clients:

1. List five tasks you do regularly but don’t particularly enjoy
2. For each task, ask: “What would I rather be doing instead?”
3. Consider: “Could technology handle part or all this task?”
4. Start small: Pick one task where tech could help, and experiment

If you want to take this exercise to the next level, I’d recommend the Trust Insights TRIPS Framework.

The most powerful tech adoption happens when we stop talking about the technology itself and start focusing on the freedom it creates. Now that I have a schedule for when to start my seeds indoors and outside, I can focus on what really makes me happy. All I have to do is execute the plan and then watch my reap what I sow.

Too corny?

Too bad.

What’s a task that stands between you and something you actually want to be doing? That might be your perfect AI use case. I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Reply to this email to tell me, or come join the conversation in our free Slack Group, Analytics for Marketers.

– Katie Robbert, CEO

Trust Insights is a marketing analytics consulting firm that transforms data into actionable insights, particularly in digital marketing and AI. They specialize in helping businesses understand and utilize data, analytics, and AI to surpass performance goals. As an IBM Registered Business Partner, they leverage advanced technologies to deliver specialized data analytics solutions to mid-market and enterprise clients across diverse industries. Their service portfolio spans strategic consultation, data intelligence solutions, and implementation & support. Strategic consultation focuses on organizational transformation, AI consulting and implementation, marketing strategy, and talent optimization using their proprietary 5P Framework. Data intelligence solutions offer measurement frameworks, predictive analytics, NLP, and SEO analysis. Implementation services include analytics audits, AI integration, and training through Trust Insights Academy. Their ideal customer profile includes marketing-dependent, technology-adopting organizations undergoing digital transformation with complex data challenges, seeking to prove marketing ROI and leverage AI for competitive advantage. Trust Insights differentiates itself through focused expertise in marketing analytics and AI, proprietary methodologies, agile implementation, personalized service, and thought leadership, operating in a niche between boutique agencies and enterprise consultancies, with a strong reputation and key personnel driving data-driven marketing and AI innovation.