How I use AI as a second brain—not just a chatbot
2026-11-06 · Oystein Jacobsen
I use AI for more than asking questions.
I give it ideas, tasks and things I want to explore—often in Norwegian. It helps organise them, track the work and reply in English.
For me, that’s where AI starts becoming genuinely useful: helping me turn an idea into something I can actually do.
A team with different jobs
I use several AI assistants, each with a clear role. There’s an organisation chart, an action board and a daily status board so I can see what’s happening.
Some help research business ideas and suggest what to investigate next. Others help plan content and grow my social channels, or create and edit videos for TikTok and YouTube.
I can also start work on an app from my phone. The coding happens in the cloud using Cursor, and I review changes before they go live.
When I’m out, I can ask questions by voice and have information looked up. For anything important, I still check the sources.
Where agentic AI comes in
Generative AI can write text, create images or produce code. An AI agent can use those abilities alongside tools to work through several steps toward a goal.
Instead of only suggesting a plan, it can help carry out parts of it.
The distinction isn’t absolute—agents often use generative AI. And being able to take action doesn’t mean they should have permission to do everything.
I still set the direction, decide what matters and approve important actions. AI can get things wrong.
A website built with AI help
I built AI Agent Ideas with AI help, mainly Grok Bot and Cursor. People are visiting and submitting new tools, and I keep improving the site.
What I value is being able to describe what I want in ordinary language, work through the details and build something useful. It still takes decisions, checking and corrections.
You don’t need a whole team of assistants to start. Pick one task you do regularly and see whether AI makes it easier.
If you want to learn the basics, I’ve collected free beginner courses.
How are you using AI beyond asking it questions?