Don't Be the New Brenda: Your AI Safety Survival Guide

AI Mixtape | Text READY to 20202: How to Actually Learn AI

Earlier this year the federal government released a free 7-day AI course delivered straight to your phone, and 92 million Americans have never touched an AI tool. Sounds like a fix. But is it? In this episode Katie Branley and Dr. Ericka Pitman put the Make AI Ready program to the test, break down what it actually delivers, and give you the three rules for going from "I took a course once" to genuinely fluent. Because knowing what AI is and knowing how to use it are two very different things. What's Inside: Make AI Ready — Text READY to 20202, the free 7-day course the federal government dropped earlier this year and what you actually get out of it The 92 Million Gap — Why most Americans have never opened an AI tool and what that means for the workforce right now Google AI Essentials vs. Anthropic Academy — Which course is right for where you are and what each one actually teaches you The On-Ramp Rule — A course is where you start, not where you stop. Theory without application is just a simulator The Role Swap Rule — Don't learn AI in general. Pick one task you do every week and learn AI for exactly that task The Audit Rule — Most people ask if AI is saving them time. The better question is whether it's making the work better This Week's Mixtape Rules: 1. The On-Ramp Rule — finish a course and then get out on the road. Apply it to something real before you move on 2. The Role Swap Rule — start with the problem you want solved, not the tool you want to try 3. The Audit Rule — make AI earn its place. Go back and look honestly at the output, not just the speed Want to Work With Us? If you are ready to bring AI into your work or your organization in a way that actually makes sense, we would love to talk. Visit us at empoweredailearning.com to learn more about our courses, workshops, and consulting. Subscribe to our Substack for weekly AI insights between episodes. Website: empoweredailearning.com [https://www.empoweredailearning.com/] Substack: empoweredai.substack.com  [https://empoweredai.substack.com/] Connect With Us: Have a question, a topic you want us to cover, or an AI win you want to share? Reach out — we want to hear from you. Contact: hello@empoweredailearning.com [hello@empoweredailearning.com] AI Mixtape — where you understand the AI, and you stay human.

AI Mixtape | Stop Collecting Tools. Start Building Systems.

The average knowledge worker spends nine hours every week just searching for stuff — documents, emails, information scattered across every app in their life. Nine hours. And 60% of workers say they feel burned out. AI is supposed to fix this. In this episode Katie Branley and Dr. Ericka Pitman break down the roadmap from toy to tool to system — and give you the three rules to actually claw back your time. What's Inside: The Burnout Gap — Why 85% of AI users say it saves them hours but most people still can't feel it yet Toy to Tool to System — The three stages every AI user goes through and why most people get stuck between one and two The Meeting Minutes Example — How one repetitive task becomes a full workflow that runs your week for you AI Has a Brain. Give It Hands. — Why ChatGPT alone can't move the needle and what Google Apps Scripts changes The 409 Principle — Why your messy, imperfect first system is exactly what this moment needs The Tool Trap — Why adding more apps is the red herring of this AI era and what to do instead This Week's Mixtape Rules: 1. Find the nine hours — start with the problem you want solved, not the tool you want to try 2. Build a system, not a collection of tools — stay in the messy middle, that's where the real work happens 3. Stay in the loop — AI drafts, you decide, always Want to Work With Us? If you are ready to bring AI into your work or your organization in a way that actually makes sense, we would love to talk. Visit us at empoweredailearning.com to learn more about our courses, workshops, and consulting. Subscribe to our Substack for weekly AI insights between episodes. Website: empoweredailearning.com [https://www.empoweredailearning.com/]  Substack: empoweredai.substack.com [https://empoweredai.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips] Connect With Us: Have a question, a topic you want us to cover, or an AI win you want to share? Reach out — we want to hear from you. Contact: hello@empoweredailearning.com [hello@empoweredailearning.com] AI Mixtape — where you understand the AI, and you stay human.

AI Mixtape | You're the Boss: 8 Ways to Stay in the Driver's Seat with AI

Women's jobs are three times more likely to be automated by AI — yet women are using AI 25% less than men. In this episode Katie Branley and Dr. Ericka Pitman dig into the gap, why even experienced AI users feel like the tool is running the show, and eight no-skip rules to make sure you stay the authority in every conversation you have with AI. What's Inside: The Reese Effect — Why Reese Witherspoon's Instagram post hit a nerve and what the stats behind it actually mean for your career Your Brain vs. AI — The Caltech research that explains why AI feels so overwhelming (it's biology, not a personal failure) Rule 1: Your Ideas First — Why going straight to AI is killing your best thinking, and the reverse prompting flip that fixes it Rule 2: Context is Everything — AI is a prediction machine. Without your context it's just filling in blanks. Rule 3: Own Your Voice — How to stop getting generic outputs by defining what words like "professional" actually mean before you prompt Rule 4: Push Back — You are allowed to tell AI it is wrong. Here is how. Rule 5: The Goldilocks Check — Your professional reputation is on the line. Always be the last set of eyes. Rule 6: Protect Your Data — The postcard rule, free vs. pro vs. enterprise, and what AI is actually doing with what you type Rule 7: Right Tool for the Job — More AI output is not always better. Your expertise is the filter. This Week's Mixtape Rules: 1. Brain dump your own ideas before you open AI — you are the creative one 2. Give AI your context: who you are, what you want, what you don't want 3. Define your terms before you prompt — don't let AI decide what professional means for your brand 4. Push back. Tell it when it's wrong. Ask where it got its information. 5. Always do a final human check before anything goes out 6. Think postcard — never type anything into AI you wouldn't want everyone to read 7. Ask yourself if AI is actually the right tool before you open it Want to Work With Us? If you are ready to bring AI into your work or your organization in a way that actually makes sense, we would love to talk. Visit us at empoweredailearning.com to learn more about our courses, workshops, and consulting. Subscribe to our Substack for weekly AI insights between episodes. Website: empoweredailearning.com Substack: empoweredai.substack.com Connect With Us: Have a question, a topic you want us to cover, or an AI win you want to share? Reach out — we want to hear from you. Contact: hello@empoweredailearning.com [hello@empoweredailearning.com] AI Mixtape — where you understand the AI, and you stay human.

AI Mixtape | The Token Economy: Why Your AI Gets Dumb at 3pm

You're paying $20 a month and suddenly your AI is cutting you off mid-afternoon. You're not imagining it. In March 2026, Anthropic and Google quietly changed how many tokens you get — no press release, no announcement. In this episode Katie Branley and Dr. Ericka Pitman break down what a token actually is, why the era of unlimited AI is ending, and four rules you can use right now to make your plan go further. What's Inside: What Is a Token — The unit of AI computation explained in plain language, and why your $20 plan is not as unlimited as you thought Why Limits Changed — How usage shifted from simple chat to multi-page documents, agents, and workflows — and why the big AI companies quietly hit the brakes in March 2026 Track Your Usage — How to find Claude's gas gauge in your settings and what Gemini is suspiciously not showing you The Off-Peak Advantage — Why your tokens burn faster between 8am and 2pm Eastern and how to schedule your heavy AI work around it Right Model for the Job — Opus vs. Sonnet vs. Haiku, and why you don't need a sports car to pick up groceries Start Fresh — Why that giant running chat is costing you thousands of tokens every time you ask a new question, and the smarter way to work This Week's Mixtape Rules: 1. Check your usage gauge in Claude settings — know your tank level 2. Schedule heavy AI work outside peak hours, after 2pm or before 8am Eastern 3. Match the model to the task — save Opus for the hard stuff 4. Start a new chat instead of letting one conversation run forever Want to Work With Us? If you are ready to bring AI into your work or your organization in a way that actually makes sense, we would love to talk. Visit us at empoweredailearning.com to learn more about our courses, workshops, and consulting. Subscribe to our Substack for weekly AI insights between episodes. Website: empoweredailearning.com Substack: empoweredai.substack.com Connect With Us: Have a question, a topic you want us to cover, or an AI win you want to share? Reach out — we want to hear from you. Contact: hello@empoweredailearning.com AI Mixtape — where you understand the AI, and you stay human.

Don't Be the New Brenda: Your AI Safety Survival Guide

Just because your company doesn't have an AI policy doesn't mean you shouldn't. In this episode, Katie Branley and Dr. Ericka Pitman — the AI Implementation Ladies and founders of Empowered AI Learning — break down the reality of the 2026 AI landscape, where 91% of companies use AI but only 37% provide any formal guidance on keeping data safe. Learn the Postcard Principle for prompting, why your browser extensions are hidden back doors, and how to treat your AI settings like your dental health. It's all about the hygiene. In This Episode:  The Hasbro Breach — The April 2026 data breach and why digital toys put your family's data at risk The Postcard Principle — Why you should never put anything in a prompt you wouldn't write on a public postcard Shadow AI — The risks of using personal accounts for work and the updated Brenda from accounting phishing trap  Tech Hygiene Audit — A 15-minute quarterly checklist to secure your settings and extensions  Retention Comparison — Which platforms delete your data in 90 days vs. those that keep it forever Policy Guardrails — Using state frameworks like California and Illinois to guide your personal AI workflow before your company does Resources Mentioned: * Hasbro SEC Form 8-K Filing — April 1, 2026 * IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025 * Search: Shadow AI risks for more on hidden extensions * Search: your state + AI policy — California, Illinois, Texas, and North Carolina are good starting points * Search: your professional organization + AI guidelines Find Us:  🌐 Empowered AI Learning  [https://www.empoweredailearning.com/] 📰 Substack: EmpowerED AI with Dr. Ericka [https://empoweredai.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips] AI Mixtape — where you understand the AI, and you stay human. New episodes every Monday. Subscribe so you never miss one. — Katie & Dr. Ericka, The AI Implementation Ladies