AI 101 Aware
How do we use AI at work?
26 June 2026
Learn some simple ways you can use AI in your day-to-day.
One of the biggest misconceptions about AI is that you need a complicated use case to benefit from it. You don't. Most people get value from AI by saving a few minutes on everyday tasks.
Drafting an email
Summarising a report
Preparing for a meeting
Finding information
Brainstorming ideas
Individually, these tasks may not seem significant. But they add up over the course of a week. The best place to start is with the work you're already doing.
A simple way to think about AI
Instead of focusing on AI tools, start by thinking about the task you want to accomplish. Most workplace AI use cases fall into four categories:
1. AI for Writing
Writing is often the easiest place to start with AI. Many workplace documents follow familiar patterns, making them well-suited for AI assistance. Examples include:
Emails
Submissions
Presentation outlines
Reports
AI can help produce a first draft in seconds. Instead of starting from a blank page, you can focus on reviewing, refining and adding your expertise.
Interface of Pair chat
Tool Spotlight: Pair
Pair is the Public Service's everyday AI assistant. It is designed to support common workplace tasks such as writing, summarising, brainstorming and analysing information.
For example, you might ask Pair to:
Draft an email announcing a policy update.
Rewrite a report in a more concise style.
Create an outline for a presentation.
Brainstorm ideas for an upcoming workshop.
The more context you provide, the more useful the response becomes.
Try using Pair now! (Public Officers only)
Remember, AI produces a draft. You remain responsible for reviewing and approving the final version!
Learn more: Create a ChatGPT skill to review submissions and improve your writing.
2. AI for Research
Research often involves reading large amounts of information before reaching a conclusion. This could mean reviewing policy papers, standard operating procedures, reports or previous project documents.
AI can accelerate this process by helping you organise information, compare viewpoints and identify recurring themes.
Interface of AIbots
Tool Spotlight: AIBots
AIBots allows agencies to create customised AI chatbots using their own documents, policies and knowledge bases.
Instead of searching through dozens of documents manually, officers can ask questions in natural language and receive responses based on approved agency knowledge.
Examples include:
HR policy assistants
Procurement guidance bots
Finance knowledge assistants
Onboarding bots for new officers
For example, instead of searching through multiple procurement guides, an officer could simply ask: "What is the approval process for purchases above $6,000?"
The chatbot retrieves the relevant guidance from your agency's documents, allowing you to find information more quickly.
Try using AIbots now! (Public Officers only)
Take the AIBots and Bolts course (Public Officers only)
This is an example of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), where an AI model combines its general capabilities with organisation-specific knowledge to produce more relevant and grounded responses.
3. AI For Meetings
Meetings generate a large amount of information in the form of discussions, decisions and follow-ups. Capturing all of this manually takes time and can distract participants from the conversation.
AI can help by:
Transcribing discussions
Summarising conversations
Extracting action items
Drafting meeting minutes
Interface of Transcribe
Tool Spotlight: Transcribe
Transcribe securely converts speech into text, making it easier to capture meetings, interviews and workshops.
Instead of spending hours preparing meeting minutes, officers can use the transcript as the starting point for summaries, decisions and follow-up actions.
This allows participants to spend less time taking notes and more time contributing to the discussion.
A typical workflow might look like this:
Record the meeting using Transcribe.
Generate a transcript.
Use AI to summarise the discussion.
Review and finalise the meeting minutes before sharing them.
4. AI for Knowledge Retrieval
One of the most common workplace frustrations is knowing the information exists—but not knowing where to find it. Relevant information may be spread across:
SharePoint sites
Emails
Microsoft Teams conversations
AI can help retrieve and synthesise information across multiple sources.
ChatGPT Connectors
Tool Spotlight: ChatGPT Enterprise (Connectors)
ChatGPT Enterprise allows agencies to connect AI securely to Microsoft Outlook, SharePoint and Teams using connectors.
Instead of searching multiple sources individually, you can ask questions in natural language, such as:
What decisions were made about Project Alpha?
Summarise the latest documents relating to this policy.
What action items are still outstanding from the project team?
Show me the latest guidance on hybrid working.
The AI retrieves relevant information from your connected systems before generating a response, helping users locate organisational knowledge more quickly.
Try ChatGPT now! (Enterprise account required)
Knowledge retrieval is often the starting point rather than the end of a workflow. Once you've found the information you need, you can use AI to summarise it, draft an email or prepare a presentation.
Learn more:
Lets look at some common misconceptions about using AI for work
AI is only useful for technical people.
Reality: Many of the most valuable AI use cases involve writing, communication and information management.
AI replaces expertise.
Reality: AI can help complete tasks more efficiently, but human judgement is still needed to evaluate, adapt and apply the output.
I need to master every AI tool before I can benefit.
Reality: Start with one task and one tool. As your confidence grows, you can gradually expand your use of AI.
AI is only useful for creating content.
Reality: AI can also help you search for information, analyse documents, answer questions and support decision-making.
What This Means for You
The most successful AI users don't begin with complicated automation. They begin by identifying repetitive tasks that consume time and energy.
Whether you're writing an email, researching agency policies, preparing meeting minutes or searching for organisational knowledge, there is likely an AI tool that can help.
The goal is not to use AI everywhere. The goal is to use AI where it genuinely makes your work easier.
Now it's your turn to try!
Don't try to use AI for everything at once. Instead, start with just one task that you do regularly. Ask yourself:
What task do I repeat every week?
What usually starts with a blank page?
Where do I spend most of my administrative time?
Now choose one of these tasks to try with AI this week. Some simple ideas include:
Drafting a routine email
Summarising a report or meeting notes
Brainstorming ideas for a project
Preparing meeting minutes
Finding information in internal documents
Start small. Once you're comfortable with one workflow, you can gradually explore others.
Remember: the goal isn't to use AI for everything—it's to save time on the repetitive tasks so you can focus on work that matters most.
📅Following the 12-Week Learning Plan?
Congratulations on reaching Week 3! This guide is part of a 12-week learning plan designed to help you build practical AI skills. You're well on your way to becoming AI fluent.
Preview the 12-Week Learning Plan
12 Week Learning Plan
Week 1 | |
Week 2 | Webinar: Introduction to AI-First |
Week 3 📍 | Webinar: Open AI ChatGPT Foundations |
Week 4 | Webinar: Introduction to AI-First |
Week 5 | Using AI responsibly |
Week 6 | Meeting Minutes with AI |
Week 7 | Generate a Daily Morning Brief |
Week 8 | AI Apply 201: Domain Specific Tasks |
Week 9 | Workflow Mapping & Peer Sharing |
Week 10 | |
Week 11 | Your AI Playbook |
Week 12 | |
Week 13 | CAT Brownbag at Lorong |
⏭️Next Guide: Introduction to Prompting
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