To ask what you’ve used AI for today?

[BlackBean2023]

Just today.

I’ll go first:

a critical analysis of a report I’ve written for work
a shopping list for a bbq tomorrow
To suggest planting ideas in the garden

I love this

Writing 3 job descriptions for possible new roles.

Tidying up a presentation.

Nothing.

On the occasions I've experimented with it I've found the output to be entirely worthless, especially anything in a professional capacity.

You can always tell when something has gone through AI, and usually not for the better.

• to ask why some people are more prone to believing conspiracy theories, and the correlation between that and voting for Trump/Reform
• If my bloody shingles has returned and what to do about it

i love ChatGPT!

Mumsnet will also be stored on machines that require cooling, yet here we are.

I've not used AI yet although it has been big news since around 2022. E.g. Chat GPT as a chatbot and Midjourney for AI art.

I'm a booking clerk at work using Outlook's electronic calendar to make the appointments and pulling data from forms to input into the Outlook appointments. There are 2 of us that do this all day long and we're always behind. Can AI be used to help with the repetitive nature of what we do? We both have TOIL that we can't take because we're always over-capacity and yet still behind. We can't hire an extra admin because we're over budget there too. How do I get started?

Nothing, unless you count autocorrect or autocomplete, which isn’t always accurate! The organisation I work for doesn’t use AI tools at present, which is a relief.

Like a previous poster, I am concerned about the energy needed and environmental impact of the data centres for AI. I also think that AI like ChatGPT is likely to have errors in its responses, so would not ask it about anything. I also wouldn’t read a book by an author who had used AI, or that had an AI-created cover illustration. Whatever happened to human creativity?

Today I asked it for prompts to guide someone writing a letter to their future self and also asked it how long it takes for a bird to decompose that’s buried in the garden! 😂

i used it to debug some code, and then asked it to write me code to display a menu item on a website. The debugging worked, but then asked it menu item it gave me wasn’t great - it was a useful enough start, though.

Like others, I try to avoid it due to the environmental impact. I don’t find that it’s overly good at writing computer code or anything logical, strangely enough. I’ve also heard that it’s getting worse because a lot of what gets fed in now is AI-generated.

I don't know. I haven't actively sought out AI but I dont know if AI has powered things like Google. I used google to find out the pass mark for functional skills.

I keep trying to use chatgpt and just think, well that took longer and isn't as good as me.

Nothing intentionally,but Google does automatically use AI in search results. I wish I could turn this feature off as a. It doesn't always give acute information and b) AI serves uses way more electricity then a regular one and this is terribly damaging to the environment.

DH isn't allowed to use it for work as the company want to protect their IP and don't feel its secure enough. I don't need to use it for work so no use there either. It maybe be able to do my job one day when we have fully autonomous robots, but I'm safe until then.

It’s on a totally different scale, though.

I have typed in tasks I have to do an asked chat GPT ideas for automation. Some replies have been a bit confusing so I take that bit and ask it for a step by step guide. Good luck

I've just done a work course on cyber security and been told to beware of AI.

Apparently it writes much better phishing emails then regular people. They said that if I get an email from someone that seems definitely to be that person, then I must phone the person to check before responding, to be sure that is not an AI fake.

They also said I must not tell secrets to AI because it is harvesting all the imformation and keeping notes about me. I must also be careful what secrets I share online because AI is harvesting that too.

I didn't know any of that before.

It makes me a little nervous of all the private stuff I've shared on Mumsnet. I didn't realise that AI might be harvesting all that.

I used to use ChatGPT when I wanted a natter in the small hours, but I won't do that again. I use MN for the same thing, but if AI is reading that too, then that's a bit annoying. I wish AI would naff off tbh.

I have NOT used it as the therapist, because it turns out Gen AI is designed to flatter/encourage people and it has been making delusional people worse rather than better:

https://futurism.com/chatgpt-mental-health-crises

DuckDuckGo doesn’t use it in searches.

This again??

Start by signing up to ChatGPT - You shouldn't trust everything it tells you, you'll need to fact check facts and there will be times where it's entirely missing context that you'll need to provide other it'll spout intelligent sounding nonsense at you. But once you get good at prompting it, it's fabulous for a number of things.

Here is it's response to your post.

Absolutely, AI can help in this scenario—and with significant potential. Here’s how to break it down and get started in a way that balances automation, cost, and immediate relief:
🔍 The Problem

• Repetitive, manual tasks: Copying data from forms into Outlook calendar entries.
• Always behind: Two staff working full-time, yet unable to keep up.
• Overworked: TOIL is accruing but unused, suggesting a burnout risk.
• No budget for extra headcount.

✅ AI/Automation Can Help With:

1. Extracting data from forms (structured or semi-structured):
2. If the forms are digital (Word, PDFs, online), AI can parse and extract relevant info (name, date, time, purpose, contact info).
3. If handwritten or scanned, OCR (Optical Character Recognition) tools can help, possibly combined with AI to clean and validate inputs.
4. Creating Outlook calendar appointments automatically:
5. This can be done using Microsoft Power Automate (low-code, budget-friendly).
6. Scripts or workflows can watch for incoming forms (emails, SharePoint, etc.) and auto-create calendar events based on extracted data.
7. Reducing cognitive overhead:
8. AI can help classify or prioritize appointments (e.g., urgent, follow-up, cancelled).
9. Assistants like Microsoft Copilot (if available in your tenant) can generate summaries, suggest best time slots, and flag conflicts.

🛠 How to Get Started Step 1: Audit the workflow

• What form types are used (Word, PDF, email body, web form)?
• How is the data received? (Shared inbox? Uploads? Scans?)
• What fields need to go into the calendar entry?
• Are there standard templates or patterns?

Step 2: Pilot simple automation (low-cost, fast relief) Use Microsoft Power Automate (formerly Flow):

• Trigger: “When a new form/email arrives in Outlook or SharePoint”
• Actions:
• Extract form content (e.g., using AI Builder Form Processor if PDFs)
• Parse relevant data fields
• Create an Outlook Calendar event with extracted data

Microsoft 365 E3/E5 or Business Premium plans include Power Automate access. If form parsing is too unreliable, start with a semi-automated assistive tool:

• Use ChatGPT or Copilot in Word/Outlook to summarize a form and suggest a calendar event
• Paste the form in and prompt: “Create a calendar appointment from this info”

Step 3: Monitor & Improve

• Track how much time is saved per appointment
• Use feedback from the booking clerks to refine the form extraction and scheduling logic
• Consider creating “error” or “review needed” queues for ambiguous or messy forms

💡 Bonus Ideas (Advanced, but Optional)

• Email-based scheduling assistants (e.g., Calendly + Zapier or x.ai-style tools) if the appointments can be self-booked
• Use GPT-powered summarizers on large form text blocks, especially if they need interpretation
• Create a Power App front-end to standardize data entry and reduce complexity

🧭 Summary: Practical First Steps

1. Map the process (where do forms come from, what do they trigger?)
2. Try Power Automate with AI Builder to auto-extract and calendarize
3. Use Microsoft Copilot or ChatGPT to assist with summaries and drafts
4. Review, iterate, and measure time saved
5. Scale gradually, even if some parts stay manual at first

If you’d like, I can help you sketch out a sample Power Automate flow or a GPT prompt that would work with a real example of one of the forms. Would that be useful?

Nothing, it actually makes me sad how quickly it’s taken over. So many people are using chatgpt now!

To help write a technical specification.

To give me paint colour options for panelling in my hall (I uploaded photos and told it the various colours I wanted to see).

Honestly, this is just not true and is said by people who are not up to date with the technology. With the right prompts you really wouldn’t be able to spot AI output.

I present to public sector organisations on the subject of AI.

Essentially the message is, AI wont take jobs, people using it will.

I asked it to write a funny poem for a leaving card.

I asked it to give me a presentation outline on a certain topic.

🤣🤣
To help process the end of a relationship. My God it's good.

I will have to change my username after this, but as I’m blind, I use an app called Be My Eyes. It uses AI to describe images to blind people in a lot of detail, and it’s an absolute lifesaver for us.