Summarising, Researching, and When NOT to Use AI

The tasks where AI genuinely saves hours

Summarising long documents

Had a 45-minute Zoom call with a supplier? Paste the transcript into ChatGPT:

"Summarise this meeting transcript in bullet points. Include: key decisions made, action items (with who is responsible and deadlines), any pricing or numbers discussed, and any unresolved questions. Keep it under 200 words."

You get a clean summary in 10 seconds. Forward it to the team. Move on.

Comparing options

Need to choose between three accounting tools?

"Compare Xero, MYOB, and QuickBooks for a NZ sole trader with 15-20 transactions per month, no payroll, and basic GST requirements. Focus on: monthly price in NZD, ease of use for a non-accountant, and GST filing support. Which is cheapest for a simple business?"

ChatGPT will give you a comparison. It won't be perfect — verify the pricing yourself — but it saves you 30 minutes of googling and gives you a starting point.

Researching a topic

"I'm a cafe owner in Wellington considering offering gluten-free options. What are the main considerations? Include: kitchen cross-contamination risks, supplier options in NZ, labelling requirements under NZ food safety law, and whether it's likely to increase revenue. Be practical, not theoretical."

This gives you a starting point for a decision you'd otherwise spend an hour researching.

When AI gets it wrong

It makes up facts

ChatGPT will confidently state things that aren't true. It might:

• Invent statistics ("Studies show 73% of cafes...")
• Make up product features that don't exist
• Cite NZ laws incorrectly (it often confuses NZ and Australian law)
• Give you wrong pricing for software and services

Rule: If ChatGPT states a specific number, statistic, or legal fact and you didn't provide it, verify it independently before using it.

It doesn't know your business

ChatGPT doesn't know your customers, your prices, your margins, your history, or your actual data. If you need an answer that requires your business data, you have to provide it:

Bad: "How much should I charge for a wedding cake?"

Good: "I'm a baker in Auckland. My ingredient costs for a 3-tier wedding cake are about $180, it takes me 12 hours of labour, and I pay myself $30/hour. Overhead is $50 per cake. What should I charge to make a 40% margin? Show the math."

It can't do NZ tax

ChatGPT will get GST calculations wrong. It will confuse NZ tax law with Australian or US tax law. It will suggest deductions that don't exist in NZ. Never use ChatGPT for tax advice. Use a real accountant.

The golden rules

1. Specificity beats cleverness. The more context you give, the better the answer.
2. Verify every fact. If you didn't provide the number, check it.
3. Never use AI for: tax advice, legal documents, medical advice, or anything where being wrong costs you money.
4. Use AI for: first drafts, summaries, comparisons, brainstorming, and anything where you'd otherwise stare at a blank page.
5. The best use of AI is the boring stuff. The emails, the quotes, the social posts, the summaries — the tasks that eat your evening but don't grow your business.

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Key Takeaways

• AI is best for summaries, comparisons, and first drafts
• It will invent facts — verify every number and legal claim
• It doesn't know your business — you have to provide the data
• Never use AI for tax, legal, or medical advice
• The biggest time saving is in the boring, repetitive tasks nobody enjoys

Want to learn more?

This course is part of Lalapanzi.ai — free AI training for New Zealand. Check out our other free courses:

• AI Essentials — what AI is, in plain language
• AI Tools and Practical Skills — master ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Copilot
• Prompt Engineering — how to ask the right questions to get useful answers

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