Expand, Filter, Absorb: How I Actually Use AI

I wanted to understand how sleep actually affects productivity. Not the usual "get 8 hours" advice. The real picture. Normally I'd open a browser, skim a few articles, and end up with the same recycled tips. Instead, I told my AI agent: "Research everything about sleep and cognitive performance. Include recent studies, what scientists actually disagree on, how naps compare to full cycles, the effect of screen time before bed, and what shift workers do differently." It came back with a synthesis of dozens of sources. PubMed studies I'd never find on my own. Reddit threads from night shift nurses. Contradictions between sleep coaches and neuroscience researchers. I read the summary in five minutes. And I had a clearer picture than I would have after an evening of googling. The pattern Every time I use AI well, I follow the same three steps. I didn't plan it. The pattern just showed up. Expand. Ask the AI to go wide. Not "find me an answer" but "explore this whole space." I want angles I