Welcome aboard

Hey — Nafis here 👋

Welcome to the very first entry of The AI Logbook.

Quick story on why this exists: AI moves stupidly fast. Every week there's a new "game-changing" tool, a new model, a new thread telling you you're falling behind. Most of it is noise.

So I started keeping a logbook — a running record of what I actually test, what actually works, and what quietly gets deleted after three days. This newsletter is that logbook, opened up for you.

Here's the deal, every issue:

New entries every [week / pick your day]. That's it. That's the pitch.

Now let's make this first entry actually worth your inbox space.

Not the 50-tool mega list. Not the shiny stuff I tried once and abandoned. Just the five that earned a permanent spot on my screen.

1. ChatGPT / Claude / Gemini — your daily driver

My thinking partner. Drafting, rewriting, brainstorming, and asking the "dumb" questions I'd never ask a real person.

The trick: talk to it like a smart colleague, not a search bar. Tell it who you are, what you're making, and who it's for — the output instantly gets 10x better.

2. Perplexity

Research with receipts. Ask anything, get an answer with sources you can actually click. This replaced most of my Googling.

Use it for: anything where "trust me bro" isn't a good enough source.

3. NotebookLM

Feed it your PDFs, notes, or articles — it answers questions using only your documents, and can even turn them into a podcast-style audio overview. Feels illegal for a free tool.

Use it for: studying anything, digesting long reports without reading 40 pages.

4. Canva (Magic Studio)

I'm not a designer. Canva's AI doesn't care. Thumbnails, social graphics, quick visuals — done in minutes.

Use it for: probably every visual you'll ever see in this newsletter.

5. ElevenLabs

Scary-realistic AI voices. I use it to hear my own drafts read aloud — you catch so many clunky sentences that way — and for voiceovers.

The trick: listening to your writing is the cheapest editor you'll ever hire.

What's NOT on this list? Everything I downloaded, loved for 48 hours, and never opened again. Boring-but-daily beats shiny-but-abandoned — that's basically the whole philosophy of this logbook.

Hit reply and tell me: what's the ONE AI tool you actually use every day?

I read every reply, and the best ones might show up in Entry #002.

Also — replying tells your email app this newsletter matters, so I don't get buried in your promotions tab. Win-win.

Until the next entry,

Nafis ✈️

P.S. — Know one person drowning in AI hype? Forward this to them. That's how logbooks become libraries.