How are people using AI to help with everyday life?

I use AI every day for work as I work in tech, and everyday at home.

At home, a recent thing I have used it for is to redesign our living room. With the exact dimensions and photos of the existing room, it has helped me choose colours, materials. Furniture, and source local tradespeople to help, such as refurbing the leather sofas, and made to measure curtains. And created images of what it would look like before o have committed to any purchases.

this is pro of AI because a) I would never have paid for an interior designer so it hasn’t taken work away and b) I would have ended up with store bought off the shelf curtains and so on, instead I’ve used local independent traders. And a much better result because of it.

Another pro, it’s been a really enjoyable project away from my work and family life.

@pinck
it takes technical knowledge and experience to use AI correctly and effectively in the first place

I think that's what many people just don't get. Relying on it to answer questions that require dynamic information, such as travel timetables, or access to information that may be missing or hidden behind data security/paywalls.

Asking something like "Explain quantum entanglement simply" is going to yield much more helpful answers than "What time does the 08:42 train arrive tomorrow?"

It's also very useful as a sounding-board. Unlike human interaction, it's neutral, well-informed, and polite (unless you ask it not to be) 😜

No need to be so bitchy to people.

Why are you so angry @pinck? I haven’t claimed to be intellectually superior to anybody. And I’m not going to, I know I’m of average intelligence; that doesn’t worry me at all. My notebooks won’t make me any cleverer. Writing in them does me good though, certainly in terms of cognition but also relaxation- some of the studies have found evidence that handwriting aids emotional regulation and stress reduction. I hope you’re not as vexed as you sound and that you have a nice evening.

Jokes are supposed to be funny, but off you go.

I own notebooks too, that's not the brag. The brag is her acting intellectually superior because she writes her grocery lists by hand instead of typing them out on her phone as though using technology somehow makes everyone else lazy. It's not the notebooks I'm criticizing, it's the ridiculous sense of superiority she seems to get from using them.

Oh Lordy, it was a joke, obviously!

You seem agitated so I’ll leave you to it.

didn’t confuse you because you disagreed with me, I confused you because you’re two random strangers making equally poorly written, condescending arguments in the same conversation and frankly, neither of you are particularly memorable. I’m not obligated to keep track of every random person arguing with me on the internet and the fact that you’re trying to turn such an insignificant mix-up into some grand commentary on my intelligence is genuinely hilarious.

I know, WTF 😕😂

Lol, you really thought you did something there, didn't you? 😂 AI makes mistakes and mixes up information all the time, which is literally something I've already explained but I suppose understanding the argument would require you to actually follow the conversation instead of desperately searching for an opportunity to sound clever. You're not nearly as witty as you think you are, and the confidence with which you keep proving that is almost impressive.

Thinking two posters are the same person just because they don't agree with you is a bit 🙄
Condescending and bragging is a bit of a strange take.

You should try AI. It would never mix up two random strangers on the internet.

In what world is owning some notebooks a brag? 😂

Oh, whatever. I have two people arguing with me who both write in the exact same condescending tone. Forgive me for mixing up two random strangers on the internet. Not remembering which one of you was bragging about her notebooks doesn't mean I lack basic comprehension skills, but nice try.

I find myself using the free Gemini one (begrudgingly) because google has now become so shit.
I look up plants, how big they get (pictures are always just the leaf or flower rather than the full mature plant which drives me bonkers), preferred soils and locations. I don't use it for travel unless I really can't find other info as it has been very wrong with where things are and bus numbers in the past (presume using old data not updated from a web page somewhere).

I do a first pass with AI then look further into what it has said to double check as it often screws up things I luckily do know about, so I am wary of trusting it 100%

Are you mixing me up with someone else? As I haven't said anything about owning journals?
I'd lay off the basic comprehension skills jab if you are as.... ummm.....
😂

Um, no. My husband is 40 and has been working in web development for 20 years, do you seriously think his job is exactly the same today as it was when he started? He's spent his entire career learning new technologies and adapting to changes to keep himself relevant, and AI is just the latest development. He knows how to code perfectly well without AI but he uses it to handle tedious busywork so he can focus on other things that actually require his expertise. He still does plenty of work himself, and he's even experimenting with AI on his own time and building a little robot for his home office.

Companies still need people who understand what they're doing, especially since AI obviously makes mistakes and someone needs to recognize and correct them, not to mention, it takes technical knowledge and experience to use AI correctly and effectively in the first place. There are also robots that assist with certain surgeries now. Do you think that means surgeons are suddenly worth less because technology helps them do their jobs?

And considering the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects software developer employment to grow nearly 16% over the next decade, I'm not particularly concerned that knowing how to use AI is going to make him unemployable. His job will undoubtedly look different in another 10 or 15 years just as it looks different now than it did 20 years ago. That's how technology works. The idea that refusing to use new tools somehow makes you more valuable than someone who knows how to adapt is honestly ridiculous.

You were using your notebooks to brag, though, your whole point seemed to be that you still write everything by hand unlike the rest of us apparently intellectually inferior people who dare to type our grocery lists into our phones.

I am.new to my area. When I had to go to multiple places I asked AI to plan route in a logical manner do I wasn't doubling back on myself. I use it occasionally.

So far I’ve used chat gpt to help me plan a new garden bed, help with home accessories styling as I’m not that good at it. Alter a selfie photo background so it’s suitable for a passport photo and am now using it with a paid subscription to help initially prepare a claim on behalf my son for unfair dismissal due to disability. I will seek proper legal advice at the right time but it’s saved me a fortune with the preliminary stuff, such as prompt notes for meetings, analysing documents and writing letters. Also suggests recipes when you only have certain ingredients

I think you might mean me with your reference to ‘journals’. I mentioned my notebooks earlier, but I do agree with you that’s not really relevant, just like your financial status isn’t really relevant. The difference, I suppose, is that one of them is a bit of a brag and the other one isn’t. At any rate, you’ve already been rude to me about my earlier post, so I don’t think you need to do it again; your tone is quite unpleasant. Perhaps AI could help you find a more suitable register for online discussions.

If he keeps using AI to do his work then they won't be paying him that much for much longer. Using AI to do your work is just working to the end of your job, horrible if you don't have a choice to not use it, stupid if you do have a choice.

Kind of amused that people are worried we are making our brains go soft using AI without any idea what we are doing with our brains while AI is doing its thing.

I'm outsourcing the things I can add least value to so I can use my brain on other things. Usually this is working out what the important questions actually are and what I need to know to answer them. Then I ask the AI to find out for me and most importantly include its sources and explain why it chose them.

Because as I already said, they wouldn’t be paying him that much if he were lazy and incapable of doing his job and I mentioned the size of the yard because it’s huge which explains why we don’t feel like maintaining it ourselves and on the flip side, I’m still not sure why OhTheCowsInTheMeadowGoMoo felt the need to tell me how many journals she owns and exactly where she keeps the considering that is not at all relevant to anything. Come on now, some of y’all are really lacking in basic comprehension skills and it shows. 😂

How did it help with your tax return?I really struggle with mine. I just do not have a mathematical mind whatsoever!