5 Ways We Used AI for Work Last Week: March 2025 Edition

Editor’s Note: This is the 5^th article in a series. Read the other articles here.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to transform our professional landscape, offering innovative solutions to everyday challenges. In this ongoing series, Diane Gilson of Info Plus(+) Consulting shares practical applications of AI that have enhanced her team's productivity and efficiency. Read on to learn how she and her team have used AI to streamline their calendar invitations, write vendor reviews, and more.

Simplify Adding Calendar Invitations in Outlook Online

Type: Avoid Extra App & Enhance Workflow (from COO)

Example: Our COO primarily uses MS 365 Outlook Online because it consumes fewer computer resources than the Outlook Desktop version. However, when accepting and opening calendar invitations (“.ics” files), the system automatically launches the Outlook Desktop application (both time-consuming and resource-intensive). To more efficiently handle these invitations, she asked ChatGPT, “Is it possible to add .ics files to Outlook Online without triggering Outlook Desktop?”

Result & Reflection: ChatGPT offered a simple solution: ”Drag and drop the .ics file from File Explorer directly onto the Outlook Online calendar.” Whoa! Really?

It works! If you’ve ever clicked on an .ics file and watched Outlook Desktop launch like a rocket booster, you’ll understand why this fix is so impactful. Bonus? No more sitting there, staring at a loading screen while Outlook decides whether to open or crash. Nice!

Estimated Time Savings: 2+ minutes per invitation (= 4.8-6 hours saved per year (assuming 12-15 invitations/month)

Who Loves to Write Vendor Reviews?

Type: Produce an Impactful Social Media Review for a Vendor (from QBO Level 2 ProAdvisor)

Example: Let’s be real—who actually enjoys writing vendor reviews? Even when we truly appreciate a company, staring at a blank text box and trying to sound professional-yet-personal can be a challenge.

Our ProAdvisor wanted to leave a nicely worded review for a vendor she had used for several years. She wanted the message to be both concise and impactful for social media.

Instead of spending extensive time perfecting the wording, she drafted a list of key points and asked ChatGPT to “write a review for my vendor suitable for posting on social media.”

Result & Reflection: ChatGPT generated a quick, polished, clear, to-the-point, and engaging review. Our ProAdvisor saved time and still ensured the review reflected their thoughts effectively and professionally.

This simple AI-assisted approach made crafting a thoughtful, polished, authentic review easy – without second-guessing every word. We can also use it as a valuable time-saving approach for future vendor endorsements and testimonials throughout our company.

Estimated Time Savings: 20–25 minutes saved per review. 1.5 hours saved per year (assuming 4-5 vendor reviews per year).

Resolve Intuit Account Login Transfer Issues

Type: Recovering or Transferring Admin Access in QuickBooks (from QBO Level 2 Advanced ProAdvisor)

Example:
Our ProAdvisor was assisting a client who was having an issue transferring their Intuit account login (after a former employee left the company). The client no longer had access to the original email address associated with the account, which made the login transition process unclear.

Result & Reflection: ChatGPT provided two clear and concise options for retrieving or transferring access:

Both options included step-by-step instructions that were easy to follow, allowing the ProAdvisor to guide the client efficiently.

Estimated Time Savings: 15–20 minutes. Client saved? A whole lot of frustration.
Best of all? Our ProAdvisor looked like a total rockstar by solving the problem in record time!

Decipher Recording Download Restrictions

Type: Troubleshooting Zoom Recording Access & Admin Settings (from COO)

Example: To make sharing workshop recordings easier, we recently switched to saving our Zoom recordings in the Zoom Cloud. Due to this new process, she encountered an unexpected roadblock when attempting to download a recording for the first time:

“Due to organizational policies, you cannot access this resource from this network location.”

Unsure of what was causing the issue, the COO turned to ChatGPT for guidance.

Result & Reflection: ChatGPT quickly identified the cause – a Zoom administrator setting that restricted downloads based on location.

Following ChatGPT’s instructions, the COO navigated to the correct Zoom settings. A few quick setting tweaks later - bam! The downloads worked, and the workshop stayed on track.

Estimated Time Savings: 30 minutes.

Extract Learning Objectives from a Book for a Workshop Prompt

Type: Summarizing Learning Objectives from a Book (from CEO & Founder)

Example: For a business book-oriented AI workshop, our CEO wanted to illustrate how a customized ChatGPT prompt (based on principles from a specific business book) could create personalized guidance for the participants.

To create the prompt, she needed to extract 3-4 key learning objectives from a specific book – but without reading the entire book.

Rather than spending hours listening to (or reading) the book, she queried ChatGPT.

Result & Reflection: ChatGPT provided four summarized learning objectives directly related to the workshop’s goals. She then included those learning objectives within the customized prompt. This approach streamlined the workshop preparation process.

Bonus? Every attendee left with practical, book-based insights – without flipping through hundreds of pages or drowning in book summaries. Now that’s efficiency.

Estimated Time Savings: 3–5 hours saved for the CEO by using ChatGPT vs. reading the book to extract the learning objectives.

Ripple effect: (At least) 3–5 hours saved for each workshop participant because they didn’t have to read the book or summarize and apply the core principles to their specific circumstances.

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Check out Diane’s other articles in this series:

5 Ways We Used AI for Work Last Week: November 2024 Edition

5 Ways We Used AI for Work Last Week: December 2024 Edition

5 Ways We Used AI for Work Last Week: January 2025 Edition

5 Ways We Used AI for Work Last Week: February 2025 Edition