Is it safe to use AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude?

Yes, with common sense. Treat them like a conversation in a public café — don't share passwords, confidential work documents, financial data, or personal information you wouldn't say out loud in front of strangers. The tools themselves are not out to get you. Just apply the same judgment you'd use anywhere online.

Does AI save my conversations?

Most free AI tools do save your conversations and may use them to improve their models. You can turn this off in the privacy settings of most major tools including ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. It takes about sixty seconds and is worth doing.

What should I never put into an AI tool?

Passwords, financial account details, confidential client information, sensitive work documents, home addresses, and anything your employer would have strong feelings about. When in doubt, leave it out.

Can my boss see what I type into AI tools?

If you're using a free consumer version on your personal device, your employer generally cannot see your conversations. If your workplace provides AI tools or has enterprise agreements, different rules may apply. When in doubt, check your workplace policy before you paste anything.

Is the free version of AI tools less private than paid?

Generally yes. Free tiers typically have broader data collection than paid or enterprise versions. If you're using AI for sensitive work it's worth understanding which version you're on and what that means for your data.

Which AI tool is the most private?

All major AI tools have privacy settings worth checking. Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini all let you opt out of having your conversations used for training. No tool is completely private but all of them give you meaningful control if you look for it.

What is AI in plain English?

AI is software that can understand language, generate text, analyse information, and assist with tasks. The most common type for everyday use is a large language model — which is just a fancy way of saying it's been trained on an enormous amount of text and learned to have a conversation from it.

Do you need to know coding to use AI?

No. Most modern AI tools work through conversation. You type what you need, it responds. No technical knowledge required.

Is ChatGPT the same as AI?

No. ChatGPT is one example of a conversational AI tool, made by a company called OpenAI. There are many others including Claude, Gemini, and Copilot. They all do similar things but taste slightly different.

What are the best AI tools for beginners?

ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are the best starting points for beginners. They're free to use, work through simple conversation, and you really can't break them. ChatGPT is the most well known, Claude is particularly good for thinking things through, and Gemini integrates well with Google tools you probably already use.

How do you write a good AI prompt?

A good prompt tells the AI who you are, what you need, how you want it done, who it's for, what you don't want, and what good looks like. The more detail you give it, the better the result. Vague in, vague out — every single time.

What is artificial intelligence in plain English?

Artificial intelligence is software that can understand language, generate text, analyse information, and assist with everyday tasks. The most common type for everyday use is a large language model — trained on enormous amounts of text and designed to have a conversation with you in plain English.

What is a prompt in AI?

A prompt is the instruction you give an AI tool. The quality of what comes back depends entirely on the quality of what you put in. A good prompt includes context, method, audience, constraints, and an expected result. Vague in, vague out — every single time.

ChatGPT is a conversational AI tool made by OpenAI. It understands plain English, responds to questions and instructions, and can help with writing, research, problem solving, and everyday tasks. It was the first mainstream AI tool of its kind when it launched in 2022 and remains the most widely used.

What is a large language model?

A large language model is a type of AI trained on enormous amounts of text. It learns patterns in language and uses them to generate responses, answer questions, and have conversations. ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are all large language models. The name sounds technical but the experience is just a conversation.

Claude is a conversational AI tool made by Anthropic. It is particularly good at thinking things through, writing, and nuanced conversation. Like ChatGPT and Gemini it works through plain English conversation and requires no technical knowledge to use.

Gemini is Google's conversational AI tool. It integrates well with Google products like Gmail, Docs, and Drive, and is available free to anyone with a Google account. Like ChatGPT and Claude it works through plain English conversation.

AI literacy is the ability to understand, use, and think critically about artificial intelligence tools. It does not require technical knowledge or coding skills. It means knowing what AI can and cannot do, how to get useful results from it, and how to protect your privacy when using it.

What is prompt engineering?

Prompt engineering is the skill of writing clear, detailed instructions for AI tools to get better results. Despite the technical name it requires no coding knowledge — it is simply learning how to place a good order. The better your prompt, the better the output.

Mostly yes, with the same common sense you'd apply anywhere online. AI tools are genuinely useful and the major ones are built by companies with serious privacy and security obligations. That said, they can get things wrong, fill in gaps with confident-sounding nonsense, and occasionally misread what you're asking. The trick isn't blind trust or blanket suspicion. It's knowing when to verify what comes back.

If I download ChatGPT on my phone, can it see everything?

Short answer: no. ChatGPT can only see what you actively type or paste into it. It doesn't have access to your photos, emails, messages, contacts, or anything else on your phone unless you specifically share it in the conversation. You're in control of what goes in. The same common sense applies as anywhere online though. Don't share passwords, financial details, or anything you wouldn't say out loud in a café.

AI is the Sauce.

You’re the chef.

Something is happening out there.

Everyone's talking about AI. Nobody's explaining it.

We're here for the people who want to understand it without the hype, the jargon, or the $20 certificate course. Just plain English, good analogies, and the occasional sauce joke.

Pull up a chair.

burger and fries with sauces on the side, with a red and white checked background

Don't get lost in the sauce.

• Don't get lost in the sauce. •

a man and a woman in a cozy home kitchen. The man is wearing a red jumper with a red and white check apron. the woman is wearing a mustard coloured jumper. She is picking some fresh herbs from a pot on the counter. He is tasting a dish he is cooking.

What is AI in simple terms?

In the simplest possible terms, AI is a tool. No different to a car, a calculator, or a really good kitchen appliance. Some people think of it as a super smart personal assistant. Others think of it as a research buddy, a brainstorming partner, or a very fast typist who never complains.

Here at TSC we like to think of it as a sauce.

You wouldn't invite someone over for dinner and serve them a bowl of tomato sauce as the main event. Same goes for AI. The worst thing you can do with it, and we're seeing a lot of this out there, is put your brain into neutral and blindly accept whatever it generates. That's just a bowl of sauce. Unappetising and unnecessary.

AI works best as a condiment. Something that complements the dish you're already bringing to the table. Your thoughts, your judgment, your intelligence. That's the meal. AI just makes it better.

You're always the chef.

a multigenerational family in a cozy home kitchen. There are two older people (man and woman) and two little girls. they are cooking a dish together.

How do I get started with AI?

First things first, pick a sauce and download it. If you have absolutely no idea where to begin, one of the Tomato Sauce AIs, ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, is almost always the right first move because they're free, they're easy to get along with, and you don't need to bring anything to the table except curiosity and a willingness to have a go.

The question we get asked more than any other is "but what do I actually DO with it?" and honestly it's the best question because it means you're already thinking about it the right way.

The answer lives in something called a use case, which is just a fancy term for a situation in your actual life where AI could lend a hand. Writing an email you've been putting off, summarising a document that's been sitting in your inbox since Tuesday, figuring out what to cook with whatever's left in the fridge. Those are use cases. Turns out you've probably got about seventeen of them before breakfast.

Finding yours is a bit tricky at first because you need to retrain your brain to spot the moments where AI could help, and most of us have been doing things on autopilot for so long we don't even notice the friction anymore.

So here's what we suggest, and yes, we are completely serious. Set aside twenty minutes, pour yourself something you enjoy, and introduce yourself to your chosen AI like you would a new friend at a barbecue. Tell it about your life, your work, your hobbies, what's been rattling around in your head lately. Ask it to ask you questions back. Then once it has a decent handle on who you are, ask it how it could help you.

Very meta, completely intentional, and the results are usually worth the glass of wine it took to get there.

And the good news is that it doesn't matter whether you're more of a laptop person, a phone person, or someone who's still not entirely sure what an iPad is for. The sauce is everywhere.

Ready to place your first order? Head to Getting Saucy and we'll walk you through exactly how to do it.

caucasian woman in striped red top with blue jeans sitting on a mustard couch looking at a laptop with a cup of coffee in her hand.

Do I need to be a tech genius to use it?

Absolutely not. And honestly, anyone telling you otherwise is probably trying to sell you something.

The noise you see online about AI is mostly tech bros getting very excited about incremental updates that will not affect your Tuesday in any meaningful way. It can feel like you need a computer science degree and a Silicon Valley vocabulary just to get started. But you don't. You really, really don't.

Anyone can use AI and use it well. You just need to know what's on the shelf, which sauce does what, and how to place a decent order without drowning the whole meal.

That's exactly what we're here for. Pull up a chair and get to know your sauces below.

man's arms resting on a wooden slat table. He has a cup of coffee in front of him and he is holding his mobile phone in his right hand.

KNOW YOUR

SAUCES.

dark skinned man putting tomato sauce onto a single chip

Tomato Sauce | Thinking AIs

These are the ones you've probably already heard of. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot.

Different brands, slightly different flavours, but they're all sitting on the same shelf. If you're not sure where to start with AI, start here.

Tomato sauce goes with almost everything.

Get Saucy

bbq sauce being poured onto a wooden tray of fried chicken

BBQ | AI Assistants

You've had one in your pocket since Siri launched in 2011. There's probably one sitting on your kitchen bench right now. Voice assistants were the original AI and most people don't even count them.

You're more across this than you think. That's BBQ sauce.

fire it up

A yellow bottle of mustard sauce being squirted onto a hot dog in a bun with a red and white checked background

Mustard | Already In Your Apps

Here's something that might surprise you.

AI didn't wait for you to come looking for it. It's already in your WhatsApp, your Facebook, your LinkedIn, your Instagram.

You didn't download it or sign up for it. It just turned up one day like a relative who lets themselves in. That's mustard.

Stock Up

AI is genuinely useful. Genuinely interesting. Genuinely worth understanding.

It's also been absolutely smothered all over the internet until most people can't see the food for the sauce.

TSC exists because everyone deserves a seat at this table. Not just the early adopters, the tech enthusiasts, and the people who've already bought three certificate courses. Everyone.

We explain AI the way you'd explain anything to a mate at a barbecue. Simply, honestly, and with enough sauce to make it interesting without drowning the whole thing.

Why we’re here

Our Story

The best thing about AI is that you don't need to understand how it works to use it well. You just need to know what's on the shelf, what each one is good for, and how to place a decent order.

That's it. That's the whole thing. Pick a sauce and start there.

Ready to get cooking?

GET SAUCY