Happy Sunday besties. It was such a pleasure to meet a few AI Snack Club members IRL this weekend in SF on both Friday and Saturday! My only regret was not taking a photo together 🥹 …. next time!
Exciting IRL Opportunity in SF
Before we get into today’s article, I am thrilled to announce that I was able to score a few last minute and FREE tickets to WIRED's The Big Interview for the AI Snack Club community!
While only 3 of the 12 headliners are women, I'd love to show up and show out with as many female attendees as possible, especially those in AI Snack Club, to connect ahead of the holidays.
Event Details
Date: Thursday, December 4, 2025
Time: 8:35 AM - 4 PM PT
Location: The Midway, 1558 Michigan St., San Francisco, CA 94124
🧃 If you are interested in joining, reply to this email and I will send you the registration link! I would love to hang out together.
Now let’s get into it.
🦋 ChatGPT? Custom GPT? Project?
For as simple as ChatGPT claims to be, it often feels like there are missing guidelines on how to best use the product. I'm hoping to bring some clarity to ChatGPT's features like when to use them, how to use them, and a few hopefully relatable examples.
ChatGPT Chat
This is your standard, everyday conversation with ChatGPT. Think of it as texting a really smart friend who has zero memory of your previous conversations (unless you have memory turned on).
Best for: One-off questions, quick brainstorms, or tasks that don't require any context beyond what you type in that moment.
Example: You need help writing a LinkedIn post about a recent work win, or you want to understand what "fine-tuning" means in AI. You pop into ChatGPT, ask your question, get your answer, and move on with your day.
The catch: Every new chat starts from scratch. If you're working on something over multiple sessions, you'll need to re-explain context each time (exhausting, I know).
Projects
Projects are ChatGPT's way of organizing related work with persistent context. You can upload files, save important chats, and give the AI instructions that apply to everything within that project workspace.
Best for: Multi-session work where you need ChatGPT to remember context, files, and decisions across many conversations.
Example: Let's say you're planning AI Snack Club's launch (hi, that's me). I create a "Launch Planning" project where I upload my founding member survey data, my content calendar, my brand voice guidelines, and my partnership outreach templates. Now, every conversation in that project has access to all of that context. I can ask "Draft an email to potential community experts" and ChatGPT already knows who my audience is, what my value prop is, and what tone to use, without me re-explaining it in every single chat.
Another example: You're job searching. Create a "Job Hunt 2025" project with your resume, cover letter templates, and notes about companies you're interested in. Every chat in that project can reference those materials, making it seamless to tailor applications or prep for interviews.
More examples: Wedding planning, side projects, meal planning, etc.
The catch: Free users can upload up to 5 files per project, while Plus subscribers get 25 files, and Pro users get 40 files. If you're working with lots of documents or data, you might hit that free tier limit quickly, but for most use cases, 5 files is plenty to get started.
Custom GPT
Custom GPTs are like creating your own specialized AI assistant with built-in expertise and personality. You give it instructions, knowledge files, and specific guardrails—and it remembers those instructions every time someone uses it.
Best for: Repetitive workflows where you need consistent formatting, tone, or process. Also great for sharing with your team or community. Context is not as important here (compared to a project).
Example: I could create a "Newsletter Assistant" Custom GPT that knows my writing style, my audience (professional women learning AI), and always formats articles with my specific headers and emoji usage. Every time I open it, it already knows the rules without me having to explain them again.
The catch: Custom GPTs require setup time upfront, and they're most valuable when you or others will use them repeatedly. If it's truly a one-time task, it's overkill.
🐛 Your turn!
Try these approaches this week and let me know your experience! Did any of these make your ChatGPT workflow easier? Would you be interested in a deep dive on how to best set up a project and custom GPT? Reply and let me know!
What’s Hot on the Internet:
Google launched Gemini 3 their latest AI model that promises enhanced reasoning capabilities and multimodal understanding. The release signals intensifying competition in the foundation model space. (link)
Advancing Women in Tech partnered with Anthropic to launch a three-course specialization on Coursera called "Real-World AI for Everyone." I'm planning to dive into this over the holiday break and will share my takeaways with you all. (link)
NPR's "How companies use AI to choose who gets hired and fired", Journalist Hilke Schellmann exposes the hidden flaws in algorithmic hiring systems and offers practical advice for navigating a job market where AI increasingly controls who gets through the door. This is essential listening for anyone job hunting or managing hiring. (link)
5 min app vibe coded with Gemini 3 by Allie K Miller on LinkedIn (post)
Dog AI Challenge
Thank you to everyone who tried the AI dog challenge and sent back their photos! Here is my favorite photo of black and yellow labs:
Members Sydney (left) and Lisa (right)
Thank you for reading and I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving break!
Quick links:
- Fill out the Founding Member survey here
- Forward this to a friend who's AI-curious
- Have a question or topic you want covered? Send me a message
- And save the date for our community launch on January 13th!!
xx,
Monica
The AI Snack Club community launches on January 13, 2025. To be the first in line, be sure to fill out the founding member survey here!
