Most people who use AI regularly have developed a pattern that looks like this: something needs doing, they open an AI tool, they work through the task, they close the tool. The interaction is self-contained. The next time something similar needs doing, the process starts from scratch. This is using AI. It's genuinely useful. It saves time on individual tasks and lowers the effort cost of work that used to be heavier. But there's a different mode that produces a different category of result. One where each AI interaction doesn't just complete a task, but contributes something to a system that makes future work easier. We'd call this building with AI, and the distinction matters more than most people realize. ------------- Context ------------- The reactive mode: open tool, do task, close tool, is the default because it matches how we were trained to use software. Software is a tool. You use it to accomplish something specific. When the task is done, the software has done its job. AI can work that way, and often does. But it can also do something tools traditionally couldn't: retain and apply context, build on prior work, and get progressively more useful as more is invested in it. That capability is only realized when interactions are designed to be cumulative rather than isolated. The difference shows up clearly in how two different people might use AI for client work. The first person opens AI for each deliverable, explains the client context, produces the output, and moves on. The second person maintains a structured client brief that gets updated after every engagement: goals, history, communication preferences, past decisions, ongoing context. Every AI interaction starts from that brief. The brief improves over time as more is known. The output quality improves with it. Same tool. Same tasks. Different architecture. And over six months, the second person's client work is significantly faster and more consistent. Not because they learned any tricks, but because they built something that accumulates knowledge rather than resetting it.

In this video, I break down the new releases from Anthropic: Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5. While Mythos 5 is still not available to the public, Fable is (note: it's been removed and hopefully be back up soon), and I show you exactly what it's capable of right now. Enjoy!

As you prepare for the week ahead, don't start with your to-do list. Start with your not-to-do list. Because most people aren't overwhelmed by a lack of opportunity. They're overwhelmed by a lack of clarity. Every week, we carry things that no longer serve us: Old worries. Unnecessary obligations. Endless scrolling. Conversations we've replayed a hundred times.T asks that make us feel productive but never move our lives forward. The challenge isn't that we have too little time. It's that too much of our time gets spent on things that don't deserve it. Your future isn't shaped only by what you choose to pursue. It's shaped by what you're willing to release. So before Monday arrives, ask yourself: What do I need to stop carrying? What do I need to stop saying yes to? What do I need to stop giving my energy to? The life you want may not require more effort. It may require more intention. And that starts with deciding what no longer gets a seat at your table this week.