The Koe Cast Episode Summary

Episode: "How To Use AI Better Than 99% Of People (This Changed My Life)"

Host: Dan Koe
Date: November 27, 2025

1. Episode Overview

Dan Koe explores profound, practical methods for using AI—specifically LLMs like ChatGPT and Claude—far beyond generic prompts or basic question-answering. He breaks down his step-by-step workflow, revealing how to use AI as a programmable digital employee, rather than a slot machine, so listeners can dramatically boost productivity, creativity, and learning in work and life. This episode functions as an actionable guide and prompt library for entrepreneurs, creators, and thinkers aiming to harness AI with nuance and intention.

2. Key Discussion Points & Insights

A. Why Most People Misuse AI (00:00–06:20)

• Dan notes that while AI is often hyped as revolutionary, most people use it like a "slot machine," asking generic questions and accepting generic answers, never tapping into its deeper capabilities.
• Quote: “Most people treat AI as a slot machine rather than something you can program to do exactly what you want it to.” (01:10)
• The core insight: True power comes from telling AI exactly how to behave, treating it like a digital employee you can train, refine, and guide to suit your unique process.

B. "How To Do Anything With AI"—Dan’s Foundational Method (06:20–17:40)

• The secret is to impose your own critical thinking, taste, and frameworks onto the AI.
• Unlike generic users, you don’t want AI’s default, watered-down “average user” performance.
• Dan shows that the path to high-quality results involves writing long, detailed prompts (500–2,000+ words), not just short requests.
• Quote: “If you don’t tell it exactly what you want, the LLM has to guess what you want… and it may spit out something that’s slightly good, but not good enough to get outsized results.” (03:45)
• Example: Having AI write a viral YouTube script delivers mediocre results unless you supply ultra-specific instructions about voice, length, content, personality, and strategy.

C. Four Methods to Provide AI With Expert Instructions (17:40–34:40)

• Option 1: Write your own detailed instructions.

  • E.g., Show the AI step-by-step how to replicate your personal writing or tweeting style.
  • Drawbacks: Only feasible if you already know your process in-depth.

• Option 2: Ask AI for a detailed guide on a well-known topic.

  • Good for tasks with little creative variance (e.g., building a customer avatar).
  • Transform the AI’s guide into a prompt that “interviews” you to generate highly tailored outputs.

• Option 3: Use an expert’s method.

  • Upload PDFs or other source material from experts (e.g., Alex Hormozi on offers) and have AI distill their wisdom into actionable frameworks usable as prompts.

• Option 4: Emulate a favorite example.

  • Copy prose or a website’s copy/style, have AI break it down line by line, extract psychology, then create a step-by-step guide for emulating that brilliance in your context.

• Quote: “If I were to just type ‘generate a viral YouTube script on the topic of productivity,’ it’ll come up with something that’s okay, but is it anywhere near the best? Is this something that you’d watch on the like, a YouTube channel with 1 million subscribers? No.” (07:08)

D. The Meta-Prompt: Creating Effective Prompts to Build With AI (34:40–44:12)

• The “meta prompt” is a reusable prompt that actually helps you write high-quality prompts for complex tasks.
• It enables you to bypass hours of back-and-forth, systematizing your request for maximal quality and customization.
• Workflow Example:
  • Feed the AI a meta-prompt.
  • Feed in expert instructions or a breakdown from YouTube/PDF/website.
  • Customize output phases: context gathering, action plan, personalized coaching.
• Quote: “This meta-prompt alone will change how you use AI as a whole. Please just save this somewhere safe. This is the bread and butter. This is the secret sauce.” (39:36)
• Demonstrated with: Building a “personal brand coach” prompt based on YouTube expert content—creating a highly comprehensive, interactive helper that could be monetized on its own.

E. Process Review: Summary of the AI Mastery Formula (44:12–47:30)

• Step-by-step recap:
  1. Extract or create expert-level instructions (not letting AI guess).
  2. Use the meta-prompt to scaffold your request.
  3. Build out prompts that add context-gathering and action phases.
• Quote: “In essence, when you use AI this way, you are using AI to both learn and build at the same time. And that’s incredible. You are orchestrating, you’re not guessing anymore.” (45:55)
• The importance of a living prompt library for different tasks (creation, coaching, thought partnership, etc.)—offloading cognitive load and refining your process as you grow.

3. Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On teaching AI your process:
  “You need to teach the AI exactly how you would create the YouTube video. At that point, it’s not randomly generated slop, it’s an employee that’s acting on your instruction and learning as you refine…” (11:22)

• On the myth of 'stealing prompts':
  “Not one sentence, not one paragraph, like you see all over the Internet of like, ‘Oh, here, steal this prompt.’ Sure, some of those can be helpful, but the shorter the prompt, the more guessing the AI has to do, the more of your agency you outsource…” (13:54)

• About prompt-based entrepreneurship:
  “Understanding this skill alone, just how to create prompts and selling the prompts, you can make a lot of money doing that.” (41:47)

4. Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00–06:20 | Introduction and critique of average AI usage
• 06:20–17:40 | Foundation: How to use AI as more than just a “slot machine”
• 17:40–34:40 | The four methods for building expert instructions for AI
• 34:40–44:12 | The meta-prompt: Creating prompts that do the real work
• 44:12–47:30 | Process summary and review
• 47:30–End | Real-world, actionable prompt libraries and use case examples

5. Building Your AI Prompt Library—Actionable Examples (47:30–End)

Dan blitzes through various prompt ideas that can be adapted for business, creativity, and personal knowledge work:

A. Intellectual Sparring Partner (47:54)

• Use AI to replicate the thinking of high-level minds (Naval Ravikant, Daniel Schmachtenberger, etc.).
• Quote: “I want you to break down the entire worldview of the person. His core principles, how he thinks through problems, his main discoveries or insights…” (49:00)

B. Creative Thought Partner (51:27)

• Create prompts that challenge your thinking with first principles, leading you to insights rather than answers. Enforces critical practice and skill building.

C. Business Builder (53:00)

• Build prompts for every stage: content writing, product creation, offer design, copywriting.
• Integrate expert sources and favorite examples to customize each business process.

D. YouTube Workflow (56:50)

• Break workflow into discrete prompts: title, key points, intro, script, B-roll, description.

• Systematically use AI to enhance each stage, learning and executing simultaneously.

• Quote: “Now you’re off to recording a YouTube video like a pro in a day rather than six months.” (01:02:40)

6. Takeaways & Final Thoughts

Dan's core message:
If you want to “use AI better than 99% of people,” become an orchestrator. Document your workflows, build complex prompts, and treat AI as a tool for superpowered learning and execution. Turn every task into a prompt, refining both your skill and AI’s utility in tandem.
“This is what I wish I knew when I first started learning AI.” (End)

Practical Next Step:
Begin building your prompt library step by step, always including phases for context, expert instructions, and personal refinements. Be deliberate and creative—it’s the surest path for outsized results and true mastery.

For more:
Subscribe to Dan’s newsletter for ongoing advice and check out the resources linked in the episode notes.