(2023-05-08) Johnson Why AI Will Make Notetaking More Powerful

Sean Johnson: Why AI will make note-taking more powerful. My notes are perhaps my most valuable career asset.

Knowledge Management is one of 4 primary systems I’ve implemented in my life as part of my Personal Operating System. It’s a daily part of my life.

how to do it.

1) Read for 30-60 minutes per day.

Lately I’ve been using ChatGPT to learn about topics and adding them to my notes. I use this prompt from Siqi Chen, and have found it super valuable: “Teach me how works by asking questions about my level of understanding of necessary concepts. With each response, fill in gaps in my understanding, then recursively ask me more questions to check my understanding.”

2) Highlight relevant passages

3) Migrate your highlights into your note-taking platform. (digital garden)

4) Edit and curate your highlights

5) Make heavy use of bi-directional linking.

Tools like Reflect let you connect notes together by related topics. The rule is if it’s a noun, create a link

Eventually (around 1000 notes or so) you have a critical mass of topics and content. You have a virtually inexhaustible supply of things to write about.

It’s likely no one has read the exact same books as you, and have made the exact same highlights as you. You have an ever-increasing library of “ideas” no one has ever thought of before.