The only filter I use before testing any AI tool. 8 weeks of testing taught me this.

Been testing AI tools for 8 weeks. 3 per week. Real freelance work not demos.

The pattern that showed up every single time was the same.

The tools I kept: Fathom for meeting notes. Haven't written one manually in 8 weeks. NotebookLM for research. Only pulls from what you upload. No hallucinations. Tango for SOPs. 6 minutes instead of an hour. Calendly for scheduling. Zero emails about finding a time. Loom for client follow-ups. Clients watch on their own time.

The tools I dropped: Gamma and Napkin AI. Both genuinely impressive on day one. Both required me to remember to use them. That was enough to lose them.

The difference is simple. The ones that stuck removed something I was already avoiding. No new habit required. The ones that didn't needed me to change how I work first before giving anything back.

One question worth asking before testing anything new: does this remove something I was already putting off or does it just add a step.

Most things fail that test immediately.

Happy to answer questions on any of these.