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Hi, and welcome to Try AI for Growth, a baby podcast out of Make Space for Growth. Here, I share short and maybe surprising stories of how I’ve used technology to tackle everyday challenges—at home, at work, and in business.
I’m your host, Sara Vicente Barreto, and today I want to take you behind the scenes of how I used AI—not to write or summarize something for work this time, but to read better. Or rather, to research deeper.
This one started with a book. Just a book. But with the help of Gemini, it quickly turned into a layered exploration—across disciplines, sources, and ideas I might not have connected on my own.
The Starting Point: A Book in My Hands
I had just finished reading a book—May Contain Lies – one of those that makes you pause and think, and where every other page is underlined. As usual, I had questions. A lot of them. I often struggle to go deeper into certain topics, as it is easy to get lost in the sea of information out there. But the book is quite structured in its “ladder of misinference” and therefore I wanted more on how I could go deeper into each of these topics, as I am very focused on every piece of content related to critical thinking.
So I opened Gemini this time (for a change from ChatGPT). My first question was simple:
Can you give me a summary and the main takeaways from May Contain Lies?
Within seconds, I had a short summary of the main topics of the book. So far I had gotten to, as I have done this with a few books. I like it in particular when I have finished a book as it allows me to summarize and recap in my head.
This was a good way to look at the forest and its different “zones” before going to look at the trees.
Getting practical with the learnings
My second “challenge” for Gemini was to move from the book to a practical application, so I asked for a checklist to enhance critical thinking from the book, alongside the different blocks of the “ladder of misinference”. For context, the book breaks down the areas where we make mistakes in our thinking, such as when evaluating statements, when assessing facts, when analysing data, and when scrutinizing evidence. It also gives very concrete examples and how to act differently going forward, so I was keen to have it all in one place. That may have to go on my wall (once I scrutinize it myself off course).
Going Deeper: A Personal Research Assistant
My second “challenge” for Gemini was to move from the book to a practical application, so I asked for a checklist to enhance critical thinking from the book, alongside the different blocks of the “ladder of misinference”. For context, the book breaks down the areas where we make mistakes in our thinking, such as when evaluating statements assessing facts, analysing data, and scrutinizing evidence. It also gives very concrete examples and how to act differently going forward, so I was keen to have it all in one place. That may have to go on my wall (once I scrutinize it myself of course).
Going Deeper: A Personal Research Assistant
But this time I wanted to go a step deeper, as I am looking for more depth into some of the themes around critical thinking, bias and fact-checking, for the workshop I am working on. I was also curious to see how Gemini compared to ChatGPT in terms of finding sources and references. So I laid out the next question
If I wanted to enhance my learning with a book in each of the steps of this “ladder of misinference”, what books or articles would you recommend?
This is where Gemini really shined. For each of the steps – statements, facts, data, evidence – it suggested a couple of books and articles with a short overview of what it was about and why it was recommending it to me. I had not heard of quite a few and, suddenly, I had a mini research trail curated for me. A real-time syllabus based on my curiosity. The problem? Time to read all this!Once I had Fathom working, I wanted to push it a little further.
Pushing it further: partner in crime
As I mentioned, the key reason I started was to get a few extra pieces of literature for the workshop based on the first book. However, I decided to reverse it and not narrow my answer. I gave Gemini the 4 modules of the workshop I developed and asked it to reframe the answer to suggested research pieces for each of those areas. Again, that is when my eyes shine seeing the answer.
It did not just give me resources but immediately kicked in suggesting additional resources, tests and organizations where I could investigate further. I even asked for real-life case studies to illustrate each example and it gave me a few good additions to the ones I had in mind. At the end of the day, 2 heads think better than 1. And I am not even sure I can count Gemini as “just one head”!
Why This Mattered
This wasn’t just about saving time—it was about expanding the conversation. AI helped me reflect better, organize ideas further, and keep my momentum going. That’s often the hardest part with reading—we close the book, we are kind of interested in more but then life resumes. We forget to take that next step. Or we don’t know how.
Gemini kept the spark of the book alive just a bit longer. It made the experience richer, more connected, and more aligned with how I love to learn—curious, layered, interdisciplinary.
How You Can Try This
If you’re a reader or someone who often finishes a book with a dozen tabs open in your brain, here’s how you can use AI to make the most of that curiosity:
1️⃣ Ask for a book summary after you finished reading to help you consolidate themes.
2️⃣ Dig deeper by asking for follow-up reading suggestions, across different formats.
3️⃣ Ask for counterpoints or critical takes to challenge the author’s perspective.
4️⃣ Turn themes into workshop prompts, journaling questions, or conversation starters.
5️⃣ Keep the trail going—ask “what’s next” until you feel you’ve explored enough.
Final Thoughts
This wasn’t a time-saving hack. This was part of the learning process, where having an AI sidekick helped me learn better. So if you’ve ever finished a book and thought, “Now what?”—AI might just help you answer that in more ways than one.
Thanks for tuning in to Try AI for Growth. Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share your favourite reads or how you’re using AI to deepen your learning. Until next time, keep experimenting, keep exploring—and keep having fun. 📚
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