After years of trying to set up Notion, I asked Claude to build the system with me. The starting point was a conversation.
Less busywork.
More human work.
A hands-on AI workshop for HR · 1–5 pm
TJ Larkin · Texas AI LabTexas AI Lab · Flintco01 / 42
Our afternoon
Watch it. Try it. Make it yours.
Breaks: 2:00–2:10 and 3:40–3:50
1:00–2:00A practical reset: context, voice, browsers and agents.01
2:10–2:50Build your reusable HR workspace.02
2:50–3:40Build an assessment-review assistant together.03
3:50–4:25Scheduling, a morning brief and an ideas assistant.04
4:25–5:00Build clinic, questions and show-and-tell.05
Texas AI Lab · Flintco02 / 42
Part 01 of 05
01
Start with what is possible
A fresh introduction. Then a few small things you can try immediately.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco03 / 42
TJ’s own example
“I finally described
I finally described
what I wanted.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco04 / 42
Three useful modes
Ask. Act. Automate.
01Ask
Explain, draft, compare, think with you.
02Act
Use an available tool to do a defined job.
03Automate
Repeat a defined job on a schedule.
Start with a useful result. Add tools and repetition when they help.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco05 / 42
The foundation
It needs the brief
you would give a colleague.
A vague request
Write an onboarding email.
Assume the audience and details.
Hope the tone is right.
A useful request
01Who it is for and what happens next.
02The facts and an example to follow.
03What to leave out or ask about.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco06 / 42
A better starting point
Let AI interview you.
You do not have to know how to write the perfect request.
You
I need to improve a repetitive HR task. Ask me one question at a time to understand the task before suggesting a solution.
Assistant
What is the task, and what part of it takes the most time?
Texas AI Lab · Flintco07 / 42
Your turn · 5 minutes
05minutes
Bring one annoying task.
01Do
Ask AI to interview you about a repetitive task.
02Answer
Give it two or three answers. Use fictional details.
03Check
Can it explain your task and the result you want?
Texas AI Lab · Flintco08 / 42
Say it out loud
Dictation and conversation
solve different problems.
Aa...
Wispr Flow
Speak a detailed brief.
Turn speech into text.
Review the text before sending.
ChatGPT Voice
Have a back-and-forth conversation.
Practice explaining something.
Rehearse a difficult discussion.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco09 / 42
Live demo · Hear it in the room
Practice the conversation
before the conversation.
A fictional employee is frustrated by a schedule change.
Say this aloud
Role-play that employee. Let me respond. After two exchanges, step out of character and coach me on clarity and empathy.
Let’s practice. What changed about my schedule?
Texas AI Lab · Flintco10 / 42
Software you do not enjoy using
Ask for help
where the work happens.
AI
Browser extension
Use a supported extension to discuss the page you are working on.
AI
In-app browser
Work with the assistant and its browser side by side.
Available actions depend on the tool and the access you give it.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco11 / 42
Live demo · A fictional form
Explain it. Prepare it. Check it.
?
Explain
What does this page ask me to do?
✎
Prepare
Fill a draft using the fictional details.
✓
Review
Show the entries. Stop before submitting.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco12 / 42
Live · TJ’s Codex workspace
Three places.
One conversation-driven workflow.
01
Your chats
Choose the project and the work you are managing.
02
Your agent
Explain the outcome, ask questions and review progress.
03
Your browser
See the page and check what actually happened.
TJ’s view: more work will happen through a conversation like this.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco13 / 42
A useful way to organize work
One manager.
Focused workers.
Bring the issue
Keep the goal and context in one manager conversation.
Delegate
Give a worker a clear, bounded job.
Check the result
Return with the outcome and what was verified.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco14 / 42
Quick discussion · 3 minutes
?
What would you try
on your own work?
Explain a tool. Dictate a brief. Rehearse a conversation. Build a reusable assistant.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco15 / 42
Break · 10 minutes
10minute break
Back at 2:10.
Keep your laptop open. Next, we build something you can reuse.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco16 / 42
Part 02 of 05
02
Build your reusable workspace
Give AI the context once. Improve the instructions as you learn.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco17 / 42
A request you can reuse
Five parts. Plain language.
{ }Role
Help me draft HR communications.
The kind of helpContext
Our audience is busy field staff.
Who and whyTask
Draft a welcome message.
One clear jobFormat
Under 120 words, with a short checklist.
What good looks likeGuardrails
Use supplied facts. Ask about missing details.
What not to inventTexas AI Lab · Flintco18 / 42
Your turn · 10 minutes
Write your assistant’s brief.
Do
Describe your role, audience and recurring tasks.
Add
Your tone, preferred format and an example of good work.
Check
Does it ask before inventing a missing fact?
Texas AI Lab · Flintco19 / 42
Build along · 7 minutes
Give the work a home.
Your workspace
01
Save instructions
Use a project or keep them at the top of a dedicated chat.
02
Add an example
A fictional sample or an approved template.
03
Try one request
Ask for a short welcome message.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco20 / 42
Your turn · 8 minutes
The second instruction
is often the useful one.
Unhelpful feedback
Make it better.
That sounds like AI.
Try again.
Useful feedback
Cut it to 90 words.
Use shorter sentences and one next step.
Remove any detail not in my source.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco21 / 42
Pair review · 7 minutes
Would you actually use it?
A↔B
01Read
Show a neighbor the request and the result.
02Check
Facts, tone, missing details and next step.
03Keep
Save the instruction that made the biggest difference.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco22 / 42
Part 03 of 05
03
Build the assessment assistant
Tony’s idea, built together: consistent evidence, useful summaries and a human decision.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco23 / 42
Define the result first
A score needs
something behind it.
01
Evidence
The exact answer passage supporting each observation.
02
Suggested score
A rubric result with the calculation shown.
03
Strengths and gaps
What the response demonstrates and what it leaves unanswered.
04
Follow-up
A useful question for the human reviewer to ask next.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco24 / 42
Fictional practice rubric
Agree on the measuring stick.
| Criterion | Look for evidence of | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Prioritization | Does the response identify what needs attention first? | 0123 |
| Communication | Does it explain what to say, to whom and why? | 0123 |
| Completeness | Does it address the requested parts of the task? | 0123 |
| Follow-through | Does it state next steps and how to check completion? | 0123 |
Equal weights · 0–3 per criterion · Missing evidence stays unscored.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco25 / 42
Build along · 6 minutes
Same task.
Two fictional responses.
Open the practice case, rubric and Candidate A / Candidate B responses. No employee or applicant records needed.
Open the workshop materialsFICTIONALA
Candidate A
FICTIONALB
Candidate B
Texas AI Lab · Flintco26 / 42
Your turn · 12 minutes
Build the first review.
01
Do
Give AI the task, rubric and one fictional response.
02
Request
Evidence, suggested scores, gaps and follow-up questions.
03
Check
Can you trace every score to the response?
Texas AI Lab · Flintco27 / 42
Pair challenge · 10 minutes
Find one thing
you would challenge.
Show theevidence.
01Compare
Review the second fictional response with the same rubric.
02Challenge
Find an unsupported claim, weak quote or inconsistent score.
03Revise
Improve the instruction and review the changed result.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco28 / 42
Make it useful beyond one person
One shared recipe.
Separate candidate reviews.
Keep a master
Task, rubric, instructions and output example.
02
Start a case
Use the same recipe with a separate assessment.
03
Human review
Check the evidence and record the final judgment.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco29 / 42
Break · 10 minutes
10minute break
Back at 3:50.
Next: scheduling help, a morning brief and your own workflow.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco30 / 42
Part 04 of 05
04
Make the useful work repeatable
From one good result to a workflow you can use again.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco31 / 42
Tony’s other idea
Proposing a time
is not booking a meeting.
| Without calendar access | With supported connections |
|---|---|
| Compare availability you provide. | Check the calendars it can access. |
| Suggest times and flag conflicts. | Create the event if authorized. |
| Draft the invitation and follow-up. | Verify the meeting link and invitees. |
Texas AI Lab · Flintco32 / 42
Your turn · 8 minutes
Find a time.
Make the next step obvious.
FICTIONAL EXERCISE · WED OCT 2130 MINUTES · CENTRAL TIME
| Attendee | 9:30–10 AM | 10–10:30 AM | 2–2:30 PM | 2:30–3 PM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Available | Available | Available | Available |
| HR | Available | Available | Available | Available |
| Manager | Unavailable | Available | Unavailable | Available |
DoPaste the fictional availability and meeting length.
AskFind two options, state the time zone and draft the invite.
CheckAll attendees fit. No invented booking or meeting link.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco33 / 42
A simple automation recipe
A trigger. A job.
Somewhere you will see it.
◷
When
A clear time and time zone.
≡
What
A narrow task with named sources.
◎
Where
A result and notification you will actually notice.
Repeat the useful work
Texas AI Lab · Flintco34 / 42
Live · HR morning brief
Your HR morning briefPUBLIC SOURCES
Three useful things.
Ready before the day starts.
Public sources. Short explanations. One practical next step.
The assignment
Find three recent HR or construction-workforce developments. Link the sources, show dates, explain relevance, and suggest one action to consider.
Here is what changed, why it might matter, and where to verify it.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco35 / 42
Build along · 5 minutes
Try it once.
Then ask for it again tomorrow.
01
Choose
✓The topic, delivery time and time zone.
02
Schedule
✓Save the recurring task and check its schedule.
03
Notice
✓Enable the available task notification, including email.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco36 / 42
Build along · 6 minutes
Turn an interesting link
into a useful decision.
A reusable ideas assistant can apply the same questions every time.
Saved instructions
When I share an article, summarize its claim, check the evidence, explain relevance to my work, and recommend: try, investigate or skip.
TryInvestigateSkip
My recommendation is to investigate this one question before trying it.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco37 / 42
Part 05 of 05
05
Now make it yours
Pick one real task. Use fictional details. Build something worth keeping.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco38 / 42
Build clinic · 15 minutes
15Minutes to build
One task. One useful result.
01
Choose
A task you repeat or regularly avoid.
02
Build
Give context. Let AI ask questions. Request a first version.
03
Improve
Make one specific revision and save the instructions.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco39 / 42
Final check · 5 minutes
Would you put your name on it?
✓Correct
The facts match the sources you gave it.
✓Useful
Someone can see what to do next.
✓Honest
Unknowns are visible. Drafts are not claimed as completed actions.
Texas AI Lab · Flintco40 / 42
Show-and-tell · 8 minutes
Show us the useful part.
Your turn.01The task
What were you trying to get done?
02The improvement
Which instruction made the result better?
03The next use
When would you use this again?
Texas AI Lab · Flintco41 / 42
Start with one task.
Keep the useful part.
Ask for help. Give context. Check the result. Your prompts and practice materials are in the workshop companion.
Workshop companionTexas AI Lab · Flintco42 / 42