Between the Prompts

Read Between the Prompts to gain the new literacy and collaborative mindset needed to transform predictable outputs into authentic, strategic outcomes. Assisting Intelligence provides a foundational framework for leveraging AI as a catalyst for growth and connection. We offer fresh ideas, practical tips, and inspiring stories to help you unlock AI's full potential. By staying current with the latest developments, we aim to equip you with the tools and knowledge necessary to navigate the complexities of an AI-driven world.

Mike O'Brien Mike O'Brien

Mustafa Suleyman's Calculator

Mustafa Suleyman answers AI skeptics with speedy calculators. The Stanford AI Index and his own analogy point to warning signs he should slow down and read.

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Mike O'Brien Mike O'Brien

20 Questions with an AI

A new study in Science confirms what the Artificial Sophist framework predicted. AI sycophancy is getting harder to detect. That defense has to come from you.

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Mike O'Brien Mike O'Brien

Three Symptoms of the Same Cause

If you don't know what to prompt next, your hands may be on the wheel, but you are not driving. That's the clearest sign you've become a passenger. Three articles that point to our use of AI as the culprit.

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Mike O'Brien Mike O'Brien

AI Assistants in Action

A Field Report on the Future of Corporate Learning. Here’s the question I always get: why not just use a GenAI? A general AI can certainly provide an answer. But it fails in three ways that matter.

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Mike O'Brien Mike O'Brien

OECD: Nepo Babies on Segways

The OECD Digital Education Outlook 2026 is a 247-page examination of AI in education systems worldwide. The key finding: Receiving outputs without effort actively harms learning. The report also shows a better path. One where AI challenges us to achieve results we couldn’t reach alone.

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Mike O'Brien Mike O'Brien

Strategic AI Literacy Series

The five-part series teaches you to move from treating an AI like a content vending machine to treating it as a strategic assistant you direct.

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Mike O'Brien Mike O'Brien

Don't Just Prompt. Engineer an Argument.

Look at this … What is it? A Car? A Joke? …
An AI-generated hallucination?

In 1933, Buckminster Fuller unveiled the Dymaxion car. With its teardrop shape and three wheels, the car wasn’t merely a vehicle; it was an argument. A defiant answer to a question most automakers ignored: “What could a car be?

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Mike O'Brien Mike O'Brien

Overheard Through History 'That is not real Art’

Understanding AI's Place in Art Through History's Echoes. Explore the historical dismissal of new creative tools, from the printing press to AI, using the refrain 'That is not real art.' This essay argues AI is a tool, not the artist, emphasizing human intention in creativity.

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Mike O'Brien Mike O'Brien

Corporate Learning and AI: Rethinking How We Grow

AI is reshaping how we learn—but will we use it to deepen understanding or merely accelerate content production? Explore the idea of how our core understanding ("thought") needs to guide the development of AI learning agents ("code") through frameworks.

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Beyond the Book Mike O'Brien Beyond the Book Mike O'Brien

Curating AI Data Points 94|400|46|51

Four articles highlight a growing tension: leadership anxiety over AI governance clashes with employees’ rapid, often unsanctioned adoption of AI. Adding to this tension, the arrival of newer tools points to increasing complexities that organizations must address now.

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