Audit your own tasks: what AI can support and what needs you

Quick answer

List your weekly tasks, ask an AI assistant to sort them into three groups, correct the sorting with your own judgment, and test AI on one task from the first group.

  • For: Experienced workers adapting to AI, Freelancers and independent providers, Professionals
  • Level: Beginner
  • Estimated setup time: 30 to 45 minutes (an estimate; yours may differ)

This playbook has no recent review date. Check tool details on the official sites before you rely on it.

The problem

It is hard to know where AI could help your work, and where your skill and judgment matter most, without looking at the work itself.

Before you start

  • A plain list of what you did last week
  • About 30 minutes

Tools you can use

  • A general-purpose AI assistant (check each provider on its official site for current plans and data settings)
  • Alternative: do the sorting on paper with three columns

Step by step

This exercise helps you see where AI could support your work and where your expertise matters most. It does not predict your job security; it helps you decide where to experiment.

Step 1: List your tasks

Write down everything you did last week as a plain list. Include small tasks such as replying to messages, preparing quotes, checking work and keeping records.

Step 2: Ask for a first sorting

Task audit prompt
Here is a list of tasks in my typical week as a [profession]: [list]. Sort each into three groups: (A) AI could produce a first draft, (B) AI could help me check or organise, (C) needs my judgment, expertise or relationship. Give a one-line reason for each. Then suggest which single task to test with AI first and what could go wrong.

Step 3: Correct it with your own judgment

Move tasks between groups where you know better. Mark any task you will never hand over, especially where trust, safety or accuracy matter.

Step 4: Choose one test

Pick one task from group A or B, define what a good result looks like, and test it for two weeks. Compare time and quality with before.

Step 5: Decide what to keep

Keep what works, drop what does not, and repeat with one new task next month. Over time, group C shows where your value is.

What good looks like

  • You disagree with at least some of the AI sorting, because you know your work better
  • You end with one task to test and a list of what stays yours

Common mistakes

  • Treating the result as a forecast of your job security
  • Handing over tasks that carry risk or need trust
  • Testing too many tasks at once

Privacy and human review

List types of tasks, not client names or private details. This exercise is a starting point for your own judgment, not professional career advice.