Free · 28 pages · PDF & EPUB

The Practitioner's
Field Guide
to AI.

For small business owners, entrepreneurs, and working professionals. A short primer for the person who wants to use AI without the noise — not read another article about it. Five chapters, twelve frameworks, plain language. Read in an hour, worth keeping.

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FIELD GUIDE 01MMXXVI

The
Practitioner's
Field Guide.

AI without the noise — for owners, entrepreneurs, and professionals.

MOUNTAIN LABS
CHRIS COOLEY
01
28 pages

Read in an hour. Worth keeping.

02
5 chapters

Sequential. No filler. No repetition.

03
12 frameworks

Decision tools you can use Monday.

04
$0

Free. Yours to keep.

§ 01 · The Guide

What's inside.

Five chapters that move from foundation to first prompt. Written in plain language — the way a trusted colleague would explain this to you over coffee, assuming your time is valuable and your patience for marketing prose is thin.

— First issue of an occasional series. Future guides will go deeper on automation, workflow design, and operating AI inside a team.

CH 01What AI actually is — and what it isn't.p. 04

The honest version, in four pages. Probability engines, not oracles. What that means for your work, starting today.

CH 02Choosing a tool without the marketing noise.p. 09

A short evaluation framework. Four questions to ask before you pay for anything.

CH 03Writing a prompt that gets a useful answer.p. 14

The pattern that works. Three worked examples — a marketing email, a customer reply, a summary of a long document.

CH 04How to spot a hallucination before it ships.p. 19

The verification habit, borrowed from intelligence tradecraft. Two minutes per output. Saves you from the embarrassing mistakes.

CH 05Where to start on Monday morning.p. 24

A practical starter plan for the first 90 minutes of your next work week. One tool. One task. One habit.

§ 02 · Send it

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