GenAI Insider Shortcuts: Real-World Hacks to Get More Done (Without the Hype)

Fast, practical ways to use ChatGPT and other AI tools to streamline writing, research, and daily tasks.

Hello Everyone! A warm welcome to new readers!

If you’ve already adopted generative AI tools into your daily workflows, you’re ahead of the curve.

If you haven’t yet and are still on the fence, you can take small steps to get comfortable with the technology in your workspace.

Sooner rather than later, AI will become part of your digital work tools—explicitly or implicitly. You get to choose how and when to integrate it into your world.

Here are a few ways new features can help you adjust:

Note: Some of these features are only available with paid subscriptions (ChatGPT Pro: $20/month).

How to Use This Guide

This is a long-read packed with actionable ideas. Don’t feel pressured to try everything at once. Skim through the sections and focus on the tips that fit your current needs. Bookmark it and come back whenever you’re ready to explore more. On the web, use the automatically generated table of contents (usually on the left side of the screen) to quickly jump between sections.

Or use this outline to navigate to the sections.

• Use Voice

• Create Projects, Combine Files

• Transcription (Reading Your Notes)

• Go Incognito

• Control Memories

• Mind the Manners: genAI Is Not a Person

• Have Fun with Images

• For Writers: Pre-Publication Reviews

• Automating Submissions: For Magazines or Jobs

• Advanced: Building Custom GPTs

• Advanced: Just Doing Deep Research

• Conclusion: The Essential Question

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Use Voice

So, you don’t want to type, prefer multi-tasking, and want to hear a neutral news anchor? Try Advanced Voice Mode in ChatGPT. It’s a hands-free way to interact while working, walking, cooking, or commuting. Pick the persona, accent, and style you like. Speak to it as you would type. Just be mindful of your environment, and use headphones if needed. To activate it, click the dark audio (voice mode) icon in any chat window (see image below).

Black Audio Icon Activates Voice.

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Create Projects, Combine Files.

You can now create project folders, uploading relevant chats and files into a single space. ChatGPT will treat them as a coordinated project, scanning documents across the folder for more personalized and coherent responses.

Add existing chat sessions to new projects you create by using the ellipsis (…) menu on the right side of the chat session. This enables you to have immediate access to a set of reference chats for the project.

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Transcription (aka Reading Your Notes)

Ever have handwritten notes or writing drafts you haven’t found time to transcribe?

Or oodles of Apple Pencil scribbles?

Did the weight of it all overwhelm you?

You’re in luck.

1. Scan paper notes, handwritten drafts, typed pages, or even long-lost soft copies—and digitize them.

2. Use your phone, iPad, a regular scanner, printer, or a copier’s scan feature.

3. Save the scans as image files (JPEG, TIFF, PNG, etc.).

4. Open a new ChatGPT session by selecting the “New chat” icon at the top of the sidebar, next to the Search magnifier. Alternate Option: Create a project folder for each project

5. Upload the image files¹. You can continue to add to the project when you find time.

6. Start with five images at a time and suggest it work through each one standalone (e.g., Page 1), waiting for you before moving to the next. Once you’re comfortable, scale up—but I find that 10 pages overwhelms the process, so batch them accordingly.

7. Ask ChatGPT to transcribe the text without edits or rewrites, using “...” for any unclear writing, and paste it back as plain text. Otherwise, it may open a Canvas co-editing window which can get tedious!

You can do the same with PDF files that you would normally convert to Word or text, but can’t anymore because you only have a hard copy or you’ve lost the original file.

Just upload the PDF page by page as images—use Mac’s Screenshot tool (Shift + Option + 5)—and ask ChatGPT to extract the text from the page, or simply to transcribe the page.

It will paste the text back to you. Copy it into Word, Pages, or Google Docs. No need to use random free converters or share your email with third-party sites!

Two options on uploads:

• If the PDF is already on your device, use screenshot capture on the computer to create page-by-page images.

• If the file is too large, you can try uploading the full PDF to ChatGPT and ask it to extract the text. This sometimes works, but for best results, break the file down into smaller chunks.

How Does it Work?

ChatGPT’s built-in OCR reads your handwritten or typed text.

Alternative to Using ChatGPT?

You’d normally need dedicated OCR software or online tools, which can vary in quality—especially for handwritten text. Some require payment or limit free use.

These are sometimes bundled with printer scanners, but results may vary—especially when translating text.

Compare it with Adobe PDF OCR to see the difference.

ChatGPT’s OCR feature not only transcribes the text but also understands it in context. Hence, it is a solid winner.

ChatGPT stands out for ease of use and quality. Many AI transcription tools on the market offer a wrapper around GPT, providing some limited free credits before charging a standalone software price.

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Go Incognito

This is one of ChatGPT’s best features if you want complete privacy. It is another way to enable ChatGPT to “forget” other sessions and give you a refreshed view.

Open a new chat, click “Temporary” in the upper right corner, and ChatGPT will not save any data after the session ends.

Be sure to copy any important information before closing this session, as it will not be recoverable.

When copying, close the sidebar first so you can use the “Select All” keyboard shortcut² and only copy the session text, not the rest of the screen.

Paste it into an editor of your choice, and congratulate yourself on being the sole vault keeper of this data.

Gemini (Google) and Claude (Anthropic) don’t offer an incognito mode.

Perplexity (multimodal) does offer one, but it uses ChatGPT underneath.

Caveat

Reminder: OpenAI’s terms state that temporary chats are retained for 30 days for abuse monitoring, after which they are automatically deleted. This is presumably filtered for keywords as part of OpenAI’s safety guardrails. Always avoid sharing personal financial or identity data. If you do, immediately ask it to erase the information from memory and stored data sets.

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Control Memories

This may make you feel quite empowered—like an AI scientist tinkering with your version of Jeeves.

OpenAI has introduced many control settings to put you in the driver’s seat (not so with Gemini… yet! Unfortunately, Gemini retains your data for 18 months with no temporary chat mode.)

ChatGPT retains some memory of your chats to personalize responses across sessions—like recognizing your display name or connecting information across conversations.

You’ve already seen how “Projects” (explained earlier) can build context across files and chats. Memory works similarly, but across all sessions unless you disable it.

If you prefer privacy, you can toggle the setting to treat every session as new, with no memory of past chats.

Why is This Feature Helpful?

If you’re uploading novel chapters for feedback, you won’t want to re-upload each chapter every time. Create a project folder (e.g., BookName) and upload chapters there. Alternatively, in memory mode, ChatGPT remembers the story across sessions.

Pro-tip: Unless you want to connect chat sessions, I’d toggle memory only when necessary. Sometimes that acts as a refresh, and you get “new answers.”

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Mind the Manners: genAI is NOT a person

This bears repeating.

You do not need to say thank you, please, or sorry.

These are just wasted cycles for the machine. In fact, you don’t even need proper grammar 😉 or complete sentences.

Talk to the model like you would a machine of ones and zeros.

Direct. To the point.

Command driven.

For example:

• Do this.. …not that.

• Stop. Or use the black square icon to interrupt its flow.

• ?

• no

• what?

• u r making it up.

• reassess.

• again.

• fix ‘stream of whatever needs fixing.’

• clean ….

• Delete all references to this conversation.

• Never address me by name.

• Delete personal info from memory and stored data.

The last one especially after a session with a resume or cover letter.

If your two-finger typing creates havoc, don’t worry—the model usually understands the intended command. For example, “dlte” (when confirming a delete prompt) or “y” as a yes works just fine.

The one thing ChatGPT “hates”? Typos.

If you present too many typos in the text, it may focus on fixing those first before addressing your main request.

A quick fix if you have lots of typos? Ask ChatGPT to paste the text back with only the typos fixed, specific issues addressed such as inserting quotes where necessary (useful for fiction writing!) without any rewrites, edits, or suggestions.

Voila! Never waste an hour religiously fixing typos or using Find, Replace in Word to fix them.

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Have Fun with Images

If you generate illustrations or comics for stories, ChatGPT now lets you customize and even create multi-panel comic-style images. All generated images are saved in your Library folder on the sidebar.

Theoretically, we can delete them, but the hover/ellipsis menu seems to be missing … a new feature drop!

To use image generation, you can stay within a chat session and ask it to create visuals, or use the dedicated “Images” chat session from the menu on your chat window.

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For Writers: Pre-Publication Reviews

One of the most powerful uses of LLMs is having them assess your writing pre-publication. Ask it to assess (without rewriting or suggesting improvements) as a reader, editor, or fresh set of eyes.

You can also:

• Assess market potential.

• Explore different publication platforms.

• Compare your work to market audiences and develop reader personas.

Always validate results and use what best fits your monetization strategy.

The way to apply this across LLMs is to first choose your favorite one, ask it to assess as your target reader or editor, then get the same feedback from the others.

If their feedback aligns—you have a winner!

Do this for important writing, as it may be overkill for regular newsletter posts.

Pro-tips:
Never use AI to write creatively. Build your drafts outside of AI, and once you’re ready to publish, optionally seek “editorial” and test reader input from it.

This is no different than companies testing their products with a small group of target users and markets to refine their pitch and product before going to a broader audience.

The same analogy applies to moviemakers, who often test films with target audiences—and may sometimes even change the ending!

Don’t overthink it — your next editor will have genAI built in.

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Automating Submissions: For Magazines, or Jobs.

You may already have used this base feature: ChatGPT can help you write blurbs, cover letters, and organize submission materials.

If you write to different editors and publications, this saves significant time.

Writers

Create a “Submissions” folder and upload your past letters to use as templates. When writing to multiple editors, having a library of samples speeds up your work dramatically. You can also ask ChatGPT to adapt your best letter to suit each publication.

Job Seekers

Upload your resume and job descriptions to tailor cover letters or check for keyword alignment to optimize for ATS (automated resume scanners).

Use ChatGPT to adapt your best letter to new roles:

• This saves huge amounts of time if you’re applying to multiple jobs.

• For generic portal cover letters, it can be a helpful draft tool.

• Assess how well your resume matches job requirements. Refine based on the feedback.

• Edit all drafts to your style. Automate by creating job based templates.

Remember, ATS is predictive analytics-driven (an early form of AI) which is also converging toward genAI-based tools.

Your use of genAI is mimicking what companies are already switching to for their own needs. Beat the rush!

That said, always review your AI-generated draft to ensure you meet the qualifications you claim to have.

AI may be prone to “support your case” a little too much sometimes. 😉

Important Caveat

Never use AI to answer job-specific custom questions, as some companies require a sworn statement that AI was not used.

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Advanced: Building Custom GPTs

Think of the Custom GPT feature as a marketplace, similar to an app store for AI tools.

• Third parties and OpenAI offer pre-built GPT connectors.

• Tools are organized by research areas, industries, or specific functions.

• You can search for a GPT or browse categories.

• You must authorize any third-party GPT to access your data.

• Most Custom GPTs use the same core ChatGPT model under the hood.

If you prefer, you can try them and see if some help you out.

To use them, click on the sidebar option “Explore GPTs” and you can choose from the list or search for a specific tool.

You will be asked to confirm the connection—this is simply to signify that you are using a third-party connector, which may use data you authorize to build your GPT.

Think of these as applying a custom skin to a calculator when you already have a powerful computer with a calculator built in. Do you really need the extra layer—especially if it remembers all your data? You may then have to manually delete sessions and manage data across each third-party tool.

Most Custom GPTs are essentially wrappers around the same core model.

In most cases, it’s better to simply use standard GPT sessions to create a dedicated assistant for your needs:

• Writing and publishing.

• Job applications.

• Research.

• Image generation.

With Library, Projects, and Memory controls, you already have the core tools these GPT connectors use.

Tailor your assistant to your workflow instead of endlessly testing alternatives.

Example Prompt (experiment!):

"You’re my legal assistant. Draft a legal brief for [Client Name] regarding [Case Type]. Use only the uploaded case documents and guidelines to structure the draft. Format it as a sectioned template I can edit further. Do not include any information or assumptions not found in the documents provided. Stay within this project’s materials only.”

You can even ask ChatGPT to explain the steps to build a Custom GPT for your task and follow along.

This gives you full control over data, session management, and deletion when done. It’s far easier than managing dozens of third-party GPTs and wondering where your data lives.

Unless you need highly specialized GPTs for niche industries or technical tasks, your day-to-day needs probably don’t require heavy customization.

Advanced: Just Doing Deep Research

OpenAI has introduced an enhanced research assistant feature (after the DeepSeek announcement), mainly for Enterprise users and larger teams.

This allows ChatGPT to:

• Break down and organize information from multiple documents

• Compare documents and highlight discrepancies

• Help build structured reports

• Track progress across sessions

• Offer source links where possible

Example Use Case

“Write a quarterly report using A, B, and C data. Rely on data from the past three quarters, and ensure there are no discrepancies with last year’s report. If there are, highlight them for me.”

This tool is ideal for complex research but best reserved for when you truly need that level of depth.

Deep Research for All Users

OpenAI also launched a lightweight version of Deep Research for other users³ with a limited number of monthly credits. You can access this using the Deep Research or Search menus at the bottom of your chat window.

It’s important to know that your credits are depleted with each use. Unless you have a specific, complex assignment, you may wish to stick with the standard LLM models to avoid using credits unnecessarily. If you need to test whether Deep Research fits your workflow, try a few free credits and gauge the value.

How Can This Be Useful?

Imagine you’re:

• A non-fiction writer or journalist without a research assistant.

• Drowning in scattered files across devices.

• A freelance coder offloading documentation or research tasks.

• A ghostwriter with dozens of clients, using Projects, Deep Research, and image generation to reduce workload.

• A grant writer, drafting multiple proposals daily.

Deep Research may be a powerful assistant but the need to check facts, verify statements is still important. If you see hallucinatory statements, be sure to tell the model: ‘Do not make things up.’

Conclusion: The Essential Question

Would you rather:

a) Spend 40 hours researching and 10 hours writing?

or

b) Spend 10 hours researching and 40 hours writing?

Generative AI offers smarter workflows. But with oversight. As with any technology, it’s about choosing when a car is needed… and when walking is better!

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That’s it for now!

If you have questions or want to dive deeper, feel free to drop me a note.

Thanks for reading and supporting

TechMadeSimple

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1. Uploading image files for transcription requires a paid subscription.

2. Command+A, Mac; Ctrl-A, Windows

3. May be region dependent for free plans.