3: Context is King

David and Chris make the case that context, not the model, decides whether your robot helps or flails. They get practical about how to take advantage of context to get more fom AI.

This episode of Intentional AI is sponsored by:

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Links and Show Notes:

Credits

TheHosts
Chris Bailey
David Sparks

The Editor
Jim Metzendorf

The Fixer
Kerry Provanzano

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Intentional AI feedback and membership

Claude (the harness David uses most)

Obsidian (the text vault behind Cowork)

ChatGPT

Google Gemini

Wispr Flow (both hosts dictate context with it)

Context Rot research (Chroma, the long-context degradation report Chris cites)

The Cornell WARP study (13 words in a Reddit thread can steer AI search)

The AI burnout paradox (77% of managers see efficiency, 88% of heavy users report burnout)

Christina Maslach on the three dimensions of burnout

Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey (where he writes about attention residue)

How to Calm Your Mind by Chris Bailey (the burnout book)