When you think about AI, your mind may go straight to ChatGPT; it’s a tool to help you write, create recipes and you may even think of the dodgy spliced images that get circulated on social media (which are getting scarily accurate). But AI is something we’ve had access to – and something you’ve likely used – for over 10 years. Although the advent of ChatGPT made artificial intelligence seem more daunting and more available, there are plenty of ways that it can be a useful tool in your armour and ultimately make your life easier. Here, we look at the ways AI can help you (practically) in the everyday.
It can help with fact-checking
One of the AI tools I use most is the Alexa and Siri on my iPhone. Both of these devices are forms of ‘conversational AI’. Conversational AI uses language processing to understand a question or command and translates this into an action with a human-like response. It also uses machine learning to improve experience and results over time. You can ask questions like, cooking temperatures, you can check the weather, and find out about current news and events. Like you’d use Google, Alexa works very much in the same way.
It can help with planning
You can use conversational AI – and devices like Alexa, Siri and Google – in a number of ways. Since its development in the early 2010s, it’s come a long way and has a significant data resource so can answer questions such as: what’s the weather like, schedule heating and ability to turn on/off lights (if paired with the applicable devices), set reminders, add things to your shopping list, and check the events in your calendar. These tools are particularly helpful when doing things like emptying the dishwasher or washing up, managing a load of laundry or whilst doing work.
You can use it to coordinate fun
Alexa, in particular, has a range of games, quizzes, jokes and tidbits all built-in and with its machine learning, it’ll only improve more over time. We particularly like ‘20 questions’, ‘song quiz’ and ‘feel the pressure’.
Alexa can also read you (or your little ones) a bedtime story!
It can you help you to create a recipe
One of the top ways Claire uses AI is through the use of ChatGPT to help create a new recipe.
“Personally, I often ask for recipes when I have a specific ingredient and the results are so much more streamlined and easy than endless Google results. (I also say meat-free straight away or say that it needs to be freezable, which no recipe ever mentions otherwise).”
ChatGPT can also be a valuable resource when you need to do a food shop and have seemingly random items in the home and you have no idea how to formulate a meal. You can type in the ingredients you have – however out of place it may seem – and, as in Claire’s example, make any other specifications you need, and it’ll help to give you recipe ideas. Usually you won’t just get the one recipe either; it’ll provide a couple of options and usually it creates something that sounds delicious.
It can help with translation
Claire also uses ChatGPT to help with the nuances of language:
“It’s also great in helping you to formulate or translate things (better than Google Translate because you can specify how formal it should be). It’s not about ‘it’ doing the work, but when I am not sure [on translation] I find it helpful to have an example or guidance, and then I edit it. It’s especially helpful for official letters (in German, for example, when I don’t know the up to date style rules). You can also tell it to adapt to US and UK English for example.”
“A friend recommended using it as a translation tool and I had no idea what she was talking about, but it worked: it was polite and appropriate for the situation.
I still use it sometimes as an alternative to translators when I want a specific tone or I need a certain dialect.”
Claire’s overall experience with ChatGPT has been positive “I have tried others, but I enjoy ChatGPT most. It has the best responses for me, and I like the tone. It’s almost banter sometimes, it tells me I’m right when I say an answer needs tweaking, it’s a comfortable conversation and yes, rather real.”
It can help with work prep
For Claire, AI helps to cut down a significant amount of time when it comes to prepping her work.
“My other application is work, and I’m a teacher. Don’t judge.
We tell students to do their work themselves, but frankly, using AI cuts my prep time down a lot, because there are a lot of unnecessary mental tasks.
As an example, I’ve chosen to work on facial features with my students (or clothes or ages) but I need examples that will make it fun. Instead of spending hours researching, I ask ChatGPT for characters and famous people my students (of a certain age and geographic region) are likely to know. Same for topics students might be interested in or finding out what they’ve already studied/discussed/presented at A-levels. It makes lessons more engaging and relevant.”
I also use AI to help with my work at Anything Goes Lifestyle.
Since the launch of Gemini 2 (Google’s AI tool) and implementation across Google itself and its other products, including Google Docs, I am able to speculate a query, and I get a neat little summary that can help inform my research, add facts and statistics – with helpful little links from resources – and can help inform the content we drive in future. It’s a bit of a gamechanger and ultimately, does make things more simple (and faster!).
What ways do you use AI? What has been the most helpful? Let us know in the comments below!
Featured image: Supatman, Getty Images, Canva.
