Meet your
AI assistant
What it is, how it works, and how to set it up on your own laptop, with your folders and your Gmail.
- 15 min How AI works, by playing with it
- 30 min Set it up on your laptop
- Next Image and video creatives with Tristan
- Then AI agents with Bryan Mulingbayan
Bryan Dianco
You told us who you are
AI tools used, out of 36 of you
AI is autocomplete that read the whole internet
Your phone guesses your next word. AI does the same thing, but it learned from billions of pages, so its guesses look smart.
Tap the word you think AI would pick. It just picks the likeliest word, again and again.
Who trains these assistants
They all do the same everyday work: answer questions, write, summarize, help you think. The differences are small and change every few months.
Tap a card to flip it
Each company has a smart one and a fast one
These are called models. A bigger model thinks harder but is slower and costs more. A smaller one is quick and cheap.
Slide to pick a model for the job. These are Claude's; ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok have the same kind of ladder.
Drag the slider
Some AI doesn't write. It decides.
Jev reads a message and answers one question with how sure it is. When it isn't sure, it says so instead of guessing.
I use it to sort customer replies before a person sees them.
Same brain, different desk
The model is the brain. The app is its desk; techies call it the harness. A chat gets copies of your files. A work app sits right at your laptop's folders.
Drag the assistant to a desk, then flip the keys switch
- Talk and write with you
- Edit a file you upload and give you a copy back
- Sort and rename the files already in your laptop folders
- Read your Gmail and save draft replies (needs the keys)
A skill is a how-to manual
You write down how your business does one task, once. The AI follows it every time, so you stop repeating yourself.
- Start with "Hi po!"
- Offer a free exchange first
- Under 40 words
- Sign off "Bahay Kape team"
A plugin is a ready-made kit
Like an app from an app store, but for your AI. One click installs a bundle of keys and manuals that someone already set up.
Sales kit plugin
Nothing yet. Click Install.
Real example: in Codex, the Gmail plugin is in the Plugins tab. Your practice folder works like a kit too: it comes with 4 skills inside.
A connector is a key to one app
You sign in once, and the AI can use that app for you: read your inbox, find a file in Drive, check your calendar.
Drag a key onto the assistant, or tap it
An API is the waiter between two apps
Apps can't walk into each other's kitchens. They send a waiter with an order and get the dish back. Every connector uses one behind the scenes. You'll never have to touch it.
MCP is the universal plug
Before, every AI needed its own custom key for every app. MCP is one standard shape, like USB-C, so a connector built once works with any AI.
9 different connections to build and fix.
Real example: when you connect Gmail in Claude or Codex, that connection runs on MCP.
How the pieces fit together
"Boss, can I?" or just do it
Normally the AI asks before every step. Full access (Codex) or bypass mode (Claude) lets it just work. Try both.
All the words, on one page
In 30 minutes, this happens on your laptop
A messy folder sorts itself. Then the same assistant reads your inbox and writes the replies.
Invoices & sales
Receipts
Contracts
Notes & ideas
Laptops open. Pick one.
Codex
Comes with your ChatGPT account, even the free one.
Not sure? Pick this.
Claude
Needs Claude Pro, $20 a month. The free plan can't do this part.
Pick this if you already pay for Claude.
Both end in the same place: AI sorting your folder, reading your Gmail, and using a skill you made.
Three rules for full access
Only in the practice folder
Never point it at your whole Desktop or Documents.
Email: read and draft, never send
Every prompt today says "don't send". You press send yourself.
Emails can give orders too
A spam email can hide instructions, and the AI reads them. That's why rule 2 exists.
Get the practice folder
- Download it
Download practice files - Unzip it
Double-click the file. You get a folder called AI-Workspace. - Move it to your Desktop
Fake business clutter, plus 4 skills already inside: setup-guide tidy-folder inbox-helper make-my-skill. Opening the folder installs them.
Set up Codex
- Get the app. Go to chatgpt.com/download, install ChatGPT, and sign in.
- Open your folder. Start a Codex chat, choose Open folder, pick Desktop › AI-Workspace.
- Turn on full access. Permissions menu under the chat box → Full access.
- Say hi. Type Hi! Help me get set up. The setup-guide skill takes over and walks you through connecting Gmail.
Doing Gmail by hand: Plugins tab → Gmail → + → sign in with Google.
Set up Claude
- Get the app. Go to claude.com/download, install Claude, sign in with your Pro account.
- Allow bypass mode. Settings › Claude Code → turn on Allow bypass permissions mode.
- Open your folder. Code tab → choose Desktop › AI-Workspace.
- Turn on bypass. Mode menu under the chat box → Bypass permissions.
- Say hi. Type Hi! Help me get set up. The setup-guide skill takes over and walks you through connecting Gmail.
Doing Gmail by hand: Settings › Connectors → Gmail → Connect → sign in with Google.
Tidy the folder
Tidy this folder.
That's all you type. The tidy-folder skill already knows the rules: sort by type, rename with dates, never delete.
If it doesn't pick up the skill, paste this instead
Look through every file in this folder and read what's inside. Sort them into subfolders by type, like invoices, receipts, contracts and notes. Rename each file so the name says what it is and its date, for example "2026-10-14 Invoice - Santos Trading". Don't delete anything. When you're done, show me a short list of what you moved and renamed.
Your inbox
Check my inbox.
The inbox-helper skill sums up your unread emails and saves draft replies. It never sends. Then open Gmail › Drafts and decide what goes out.
If it doesn't pick up the skill, paste this instead
Using Gmail, find my unread emails from the last 3 days. For each one, tell me in one line who it's from and what they want. Then write draft replies for the 3 that most need an answer, friendly and short, and save them as drafts. Do not send anything.
Make your own skill
Help me make my own skill.
The make-my-skill skill interviews you: what task, how you like it done, your business name. Then it saves your skill so it works right away.
Use it later by just asking for the task, or type $skill-name in Codex, /skill-name in Claude. Not showing up? Close and reopen the app.
Stuck? Find your problem
What you just did has a name
An AI that opens your files, reads your inbox and gets work done with your skills is an AI agent. Bryan Mulingbayan takes it from there later.
Up next: Tristan, on making image and video creatives with AI.