An AI-First Framework for Developing Digital Products
Your human insights are the gold. AI is the tool. Combine them to create something scalable, valuable, and uniquely yours.
I've got a revelation about where the real gold is in this new age of AI.
It’s not just about using the latest AI tool.
It’s in you: your unique knowledge, your unique insights, your unique experiences.
Today, I’m showing you how to turn your human brilliance into AI-first knowledge digital products that people will not just love, but buy.
And before we dive in, a quick but important update about the future of this newsletter and how you can directly shape it.
The Important News…
I'm making a change to The Dayo Samuel Report.
Starting next month, this newsletter will move to a monthly cadence, delivering deep dives that solve very specific problems.
My aim is to go deeper with you.
Offer more nuanced, well-researched insights and provide even more actionable strategies.
This new format is also an open invitation for you to join the conversation.
Some of you have already sent in questions, and I've got three fantastic ones in the pipeline.
The last newsletter, "Write Less, Mean More," directly answered one such query.
So, what are your biggest struggles with AI?
Is it privacy concerns that prevent you from digging in?
Do you worry about AI-generated content polluting your ideas?
Or the ethics of it all?
Hit reply and send in your questions.
Your responses will directly shape the content of upcoming editions, where we'll tackle these and other challenges head-on.
My AI journey: a lesson in Human-First Thinking
Back in April, my ChatGPT subscription ran out.
I chose not to renew it immediately.
You see, my daily reliance on it had naturally diminished compared to a few months prior.
This led me down an interesting path: I started exploring local LLMs on my device.
This lets you use AI offline, without sending your data to remote servers somewhere, which is now a common concern.
But this local exploration, while meaningful, also highlighted something critical…
AI can be wrong, sometimes spectacularly so (and I’ll blame my laptop’s processing power for some of that!).
But this experience pointed out something crucial: once you start using a particular AI service, there’s a huge potential to over-rely on it, and that’s not always a good thing.
For example, OpenAI (owners of ChatGPT) is currently facing a lawsuit about data usage, and it seems they’re mandated to keep chats (including temporary ones) indefinitely until certain regulatory aspects are figured out.
If your data isn't peculiar, if you haven't taken the time to codify what you know and can do into unique intellectual properties, then sharing generic stuff might be okay.
But for multi-skilled professionals and solopreneurs like you and I, your unique insights are your gold.
AI isn't so different, anyway
The fear around AI is nothing new.
Every generation has its own ‘new’ fear.
In the 1440s, writers protested that Gutenberg's printing press as an "existential threat".
Even though it made the Bible available to everyone in 1455.
In the 1940s, TVs were labeled “devil’s box,” and critics feared kids would no longer read books. (Around same time when a nation began to call itself Israel, but shhh…)
In the 1970s, handheld calculators sparked debates about ruining students' math abilities. (LGBT also became a thing!)
In the 1990s, 3D video games became the scapegoat.
I can continue… But…
History, as it seems, has a tendency to repeat itself more frequently than we think.
AI, as it currently exists, is a "prediction machine".
And, as Cal Newport notes in Deep Work, those who will thrive in the digital economy are "the ones with capital, [OR] the ones who are the best at what they do, [AND/OR] the ones who know how to operate the machines".
Notice those 3!
One of our responsibilities is to learn how to operate this new machine.
Building AI-First knowledge products
This is where it gets exciting for you, the multi-skilled professional.
Most of us know static online courses that need deep interpretation before it can become practical.
Or a coaching practice that's hard to scale.
What if AI allows you to collapse them into one?
What if a digital product provided both the education and the execution based on your own unique knowledge?
I mean…
Imagine your unique knowledge, transformed into a piece of your mind that can act on its own.
Someone else, as an individual, can purchase this piece of your mind, study the "operating manual," give it their own context, and then it does the work for you - and for them.
This isn't about AI writing for you.
I’m talking about AI providing execution based on your documented process.
It’s still you creating the value, you're just doing less of the repetitive work.
This is the essence of an AI-first knowledge product.
It's your process, your insights, codified and amplified.
And that’s the future all knowledge-based products need to head.
How to build your AI-First knowledge product
The foundation is simple: Document Your Processes.
Open a note or document, and "act as if you are giving detailed instructions to someone else so they can do what you do."
(Again, you see how it ties back to note-making now?)
This is the raw material, your unique intellectual property.
It's about making your tacit knowledge explicit.
Think of it as creating the "operating manual" for your unique way of doing things.
Once documented, you can use AI to turn each step into a prompt, leading to "education, you have execution!"
This approach is exactly how someone like my wife can ideate and create a successful self-led therapy product by using AI-guided introspection to uncover ideas already within her existing documented processes.
You may want to try prompts that identify viable topics by asking: "What projects or tasks have I spent many hours per week on consistently for the past 6 months or more?" and "What skills come so naturally to me now that I take them for granted?"
This "human-first" introspection ensures the AI-generated ideas are deeply rooted in your expertise.
This means your knowledge product provides not just information, but a framework for action, driven by AI, yet fundamentally rooted in your unique wisdom.
Speaking of leveraging your story…
I was recently a guest on the #12minconvos Podcast with Engel Jones.
It was exciting, as I was a guest on their show about 7 years ago, when I was actively podcasting.
My insights and story, as their Head of Communications noted, "truly stand out" and "resonate with so many listeners."
This re-established the idea that what truly connects is authenticity – "share your opinions. Share your struggles. Be real".
Just remember Sam Vander Wielen's advice: "share from your scars, not your open wounds".
Your journey, your unique blend of skills, is the most powerful asset you have.
Your human edge, amplified!
The future of profitable product creation will no longer be about fighting AI, but about making your unique human knowledge its most important input.
By systematizing your expertise and using AI as a powerful amplification tool, you're not just creating content; you're building intelligent, actionable knowledge products.
This is your true competitive edge.
Yes, I have questions for you:
What's one unique process or skill you possess that you could begin documenting today, turning it into an ‘operating manual’ for an AI-first product?
How can you reframe your biggest "struggles with AI" into specific questions to help shape the next deep dives in The Dayo Samuel Report?
Actionable steps for you right now:
Identify a core expertise: Pinpoint one area where you have at least 6 months of consistent practice and tangible results.
Begin documenting your process: Write down, step-by-step, how you achieve results in that area, as if explaining it to someone else. This is your "Human-First Engine."
Send in your questions: Hit reply to this email and share your biggest questions or struggles with AI. Your insights will directly inform future deep dives in this monthly report.
Live courageously,
Dayo Samuel 💯
PS: I'm currently exploring Gemini Pro and NotebookLM, even as I write this newsletter. While local AI tools are great for privacy, I still think there’s so much we can do with all AI tools generally. Don’t isolate yourself!