--- title: "Guides" description: "Every AI Explained Plainly guide in one place: plain-English AI workflows with a TL;DR, read time, and track for each." canonical: https://aiexplainedplainly.com/guides/ source: "AI Explained Plainly" --- # Guides - [What is generative AI? A plain-English explanation](https://aiexplainedplainly.com/guides/what-is-generative-ai/) (5 min read; Leaders, Professionals, Service & Veterans) Generative AI makes new text, images, or audio by predicting what should come next, based on patterns it learned from huge amounts of data. It's great at first drafts, summaries, and rewording. It's bad at guaranteed facts, so check anything that matters. Before you paste anything in, learn what's safe to share. Issue #1 covers the settings in about 10 minutes. - [How to use AI to write a professional email (with copy-paste prompts)](https://aiexplainedplainly.com/guides/ai-professional-email/) (4 min read; Professionals, Leaders, Service & Veterans) Give the AI the goal, the reader, and the key facts. It writes the draft; you fix the facts and the tone. Copy the five prompts below for first drafts, hard replies, shortening, tone checks, and follow-ups. Swap names and private details for placeholders before pasting, and put the real ones back after. - [How to use AI to summarize a meeting (safely)](https://aiexplainedplainly.com/guides/ai-meeting-summary/) (4 min read; Professionals, Leaders, Service & Veterans) Paste scrubbed notes or a transcript with a strict prompt, and get decisions, action items, and open questions back. Tell the AI not to guess owners or dates. Then check its output against what was actually said. Get consent before recording, use your company's approved tool for work meetings, and strip names before using a free one. - [ChatGPT vs. Claude vs. Gemini vs. Copilot: which should you use?](https://aiexplainedplainly.com/guides/chatgpt-vs-claude-vs-gemini-vs-copilot/) (5 min read; Professionals, Leaders) All four have useful free plans. Pick based on where you already work: Microsoft, Google, or neither. Main paid plans run about $20 a month. Gemini and ChatGPT also have cheaper tiers ($4.99 and $8). If your employer provides one, use that for work. It beats any personal plan on privacy. - [Free ChatGPT vs. ChatGPT Plus: is it worth $20 a month?](https://aiexplainedplainly.com/guides/free-chatgpt-vs-plus/) (5 min read; Professionals, Leaders) ChatGPT Plus is $20 a month, billed monthly. It adds stronger reasoning models, higher limits, and extras like projects and custom GPTs. Free covers emails, summaries, and everyday questions. Upgrade only if you keep hitting limits that slow you down. Plus doesn't make your chats more private. Turn off training in settings either way. - [Can I use ChatGPT in the military? What's allowed and what's not](https://aiexplainedplainly.com/guides/can-i-use-chatgpt-in-the-military/) (5 min read; Service & Veterans) Commercial ChatGPT is fine for personal, public, non-work stuff. Never paste classified info, CUI, PII, or unit or operational details. For official unclassified work, use GenAI.mil. It's authorized for CUI, but not for PII or PHI. Your command's policy wins over anything here, so check it before using any AI tool for work. - [How to use AI to write award bullets (safely)](https://aiexplainedplainly.com/guides/ai-award-bullets/) (5 min read; Service & Veterans) AI is good at rewording your own notes into tight action-impact bullets. It can't know what actually happened, so every fact comes from you. Scrub names, IDs, unit names, locations, and anything operational first. Use GenAI.mil for official work, and keep PII out there too. Check every number and claim before it goes up the chain. Your service's awards guidance and your admin shop's format win. - [How to use AI to translate military experience into a civilian resume](https://aiexplainedplainly.com/guides/ai-military-to-civilian-resume/) (5 min read; Service & Veterans, Professionals) Start with your VMET, evals, and awards, then have AI translate jargon into civilian terms using only what you give it. Scrub your SSN, DoD ID, unit names, locations, and anything classified or operational before pasting anything. Check every line is true and something you can explain in an interview. AI drafts it. You own it. - [AI voice cloning scams: how to protect your family](https://aiexplainedplainly.com/guides/ai-voice-cloning-scams/) (6 min read; Professionals, Leaders, Service & Veterans) Scammers can copy a voice from a short online clip, so a familiar voice on the phone isn't proof of anything anymore. Set up a family code word, as the FBI recommends. If a call feels off, hang up and call back on a number you know. Pressure to pay by wire, crypto, or gift cards is a scam sign. Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and ic3.gov. - [What is an AI agent? A plain-English explanation with examples](https://aiexplainedplainly.com/guides/what-is-an-ai-agent/) (5 min read; Professionals, Leaders, Agents) A chatbot answers. An AI agent takes actions: it plans steps, uses tools like a browser or your apps, and checks its own progress. Good first uses are low-stakes and easy to check: research, comparing options, drafting things for your approval. Keep approval on anything that spends money, sends messages, or deletes data. Agents can be tricked by what they read. - [Before you paste anything into AI: a 10-minute safety setup, then turn messy notes into a clean action list](https://aiexplainedplainly.com/issues/001/) (4 min read; Leaders, Professionals, Service & Veterans, Agents) What you get: a privacy setup for ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, or Claude, plus one prompt that turns meeting notes into an action list. Time: about 5–10 minutes for the setup, then 3–5 minutes per meeting. Both are estimates; we haven't timed them yet. Do this: turn off chat training in your AI assistant today, then try the prompt on your next meeting.