Prompts vs. Projects vs. Agents: How to Pick the Right AI Approach

Are you making AI harder than it needs to be?

In this episode of The Neuron Podcast, Corey Noles and Grant Harvey break down when to use simple prompts, structured prompts, projects, or full agents. Learn a practical decision framework that starts with the simplest solution and only adds complexity when needed. We'll show real examples in ChatGPT and Claude, explain the hidden costs of over-engineering, and share what percentage of our daily AI use falls into each category. Whether you're AI-curious or already building agents, you'll leave knowing exactly which tool to reach for next.

Special shout out to the sponsor of today's video, Galileo! https://Galileo.ai

➤ CHAPTERS
0:00 - Intro
1:28 - What is a Prompt?
4:00 - Simple vs. Structured Prompts
7:22 - A message from today's sponsor, Galileo
9:05 - When to Use Structured Prompts
14:00 - Understanding Projects
17:00 - Creating Your First Project
20:53 - Projects vs. Regular Chats
26:18 - What Are AI Agents?
28:10 - When to Use Agents
35:10 - Connecting Tools with MCPs (also called Connectors)
36:55 - Using different models (somewhat deprecated after GPT-5!)
37:47 - Reasoning vs. Non-Reasoning Models
41:57 - The Decision Framework
54:38 - Start Small and Iterate
55:33 - Verify Your Outputs
1:00:50 - Our Personal AI Usage Breakdown

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Article Written by: Grant Harvey
Hosted by: Corey Noles and Grant Harvey
Published by: Manique Santos
Edited by: Adrian Vallinan

Full article version (if you just wanna skim): www.theneuron.ai/explainer-articles/stop-overcomplicating-ai-a-simple-framework-for-choosing-between-prompts-projects-and-agents

Additional resources:

Jeff Su's AI Agents, Explained video (where we learned the ReAct framework): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwOTs4UxQS4

Our prompt tips of the day:
https://www.theneuron.ai/explainer-articles/the-neuron-prompt-tips-of-the-day--july-2025
https://www.theneuron.ai/explainer-articles/the-neuron-prompt-tips-of-the-day-june-2025
https://www.theneuron.ai/explainer-articles/the-neuron-prompt-tips-of-the-day-may-2025
https://www.theneuron.ai/explainer-articles/neuron-prompt-tips-of-the-day-april-25

And more about the different tools BESIDES prompting:

How to pick the best AI model for your needs: https://www.theneuron.ai/newsletter/how-to-pick-the-best-ai-model-for-what-you-actually-need
ChatGPT Projects details: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/10169521-projects-in-chatgpt
Claude Projects details: https://www.anthropic.com/news/projects
MCPs explained: Connecting AI to your tools: https://www.anthropic.com/news/model-context-protocol
How to automate almost anything (with no code tools): https://www.theneuron.ai/explainer-articles/how-to-automate-almost-anything-with-no-code-tools-and-ai-agents
How to build your own agent (without being a pro coder): https://www.theneuron.ai/explainer-articles/how-to-build-your-own-ai-agent-without-being-a-pro-coder