Your new AI assistant works while you sleep

Imagine this: you wake up, coffee in hand, and your AI has already scouted the news, tracked your competitors, and taught you something new before your first meeting.

Welcome to Prompt, Tinker, Innovate—my AI playground, where each edition gives you a real experiment that turns AI into a sharper, more proactive teammate.

This week’s playground: Put your AI on a schedule

Until now, we’ve treated AI like a vending machine: you ask, it answers. This week, we flip the script. You’ll build an assistant that works for you automatically— briefing you, scouting, and teaching while you’re doing anything else (even sleeping).

Why this matters

So far, we’ve used AI reactively—we have a problem, we open a chat, we type a prompt. But real leverage comes when AI acts before you ask. Proactive, scheduled AI doesn’t just save time, it buys you advantage. It turns your assistant into a teammate who’s already thinking ahead.

Both ChatGPT (with “Scheduled Tasks”) and Google Gemini (with “Scheduled Actions”) now make this possible, moving AI from something you kickstart manually to something that works for you. (Note: As of this writing, these features are limited to paid plans. And no, Claude doesn’t offer them yet.)

Your AI experiment: 3 automated assistants

👉 Time to tinker: Your goal isn't just to run these prompts, but to schedule them. Choose your favorite (or them all), copy the prompt, and then watch AI's scheduling feature set them up on a recurring basis.

1. The daily briefing

Start every morning already briefed. No doomscrolling, no missed updates, just the signal that matters to you.

📝 Prompt: "You are my executive briefing analyst. Every day at [time], please scan the web for the last 24 hours and provide a concise, bullet-point briefing.

1. Top 3 global news stories: What are the most significant developments?

2. Top 3 [my industry] sews: What are the most impactful stories in the [e.g., B2B SaaS] sector?

3. Market mover: Identify one piece of news that could directly impact my work [what you do] or clients [type of clients]."

2. The weekly competitive scout

Know what your competitors are doing before they know what you’re planning. A quiet Sunday scan that gives you Monday’s talking points.

📝 Prompt: "You are my competitive intelligence analyst. Every Sunday at [time], your job is to conduct a daily scan my top 3 competitors.

• Competitor 1: [Competitor Name]

• Competitor 2: [Competitor Name]

• Competitor 3: [Competitor Name]

For the past 7 days, report on the following for each one:

1. New product/feature launches: Any new announcements?

2. Major media mentions: Were they featured in any significant news outlets?

3. Marketing/social campaigns: What new campaigns or themes are they pushing on LinkedIn or other social media?"

3. The weekly mentor

Every Friday, your AI mentor drops one new idea—something that sharpens your edge or deepens your curiosity. Business, craft, or pure passion, your choice.

📝 Prompt: "You are my executive briefing analyst. Every day at [time], please scan the web for the last 24 hours and provide a concise, bullet-point briefing.

1. The concept: Define one new idea (e.g., ‘The Undercut Strategy in F1’ or ‘The Rule of One in Copywriting’)

2. Why it matters: In two sentences, explain why this is relevant — either to my work, my personal growth, or simply to understanding the topic better.

3. Actionable example: Provide a simple example of how I could apply this idea next week or that this applies to the topic."

💡 Pro tip: Make it truly yours

Both Gemini and ChatGPT let you run up to ten scheduled tasks at once, so choose wisely.

• Refine: Let a task run for a few days, then tweak it. You can adjust timing, tone, or content cadence directly in the settings.

• Notifications: Decide where you’ll see results—mobile, web, or (for ChatGPT users) email.

• Personalize: Add brand details, tone, or formatting so outputs are instantly shareable with teammates.

• In ChatGPT: Verify the full prompt in Settings → Schedules → Manage. ChatGPT tends to summarize instructions, and that can water down your request. (Gemini keeps the original text.)

What did you automate?

What’s the smartest thing you’ve automated so far? Drop your setup or prompt tweak in the comments. I’ll feature the most creative ones in a future issue. Let’s see who’s building the most capable AI teammate this week.

📩 Until next time—keep tinkering, keep innovating. Not subscribed yet? Hit the button at the top so you don't miss our next experiment.