AI Is Useful to You Today

A few weeks ago, I was talking with my dad on the phone. We talked a bit about AI and he asked me a question that surprised me. He asked, “when do you think AI will be useful to the average person?”

That's not a bad question. It's a great question! My surprise wasn't about him asking that but that the answer isn't already apparent.

I work with AI tools every day. Both professionally and personally. I find a lot of value in them. Is it always right? No. Are there things you have to be aware of when using it? Absolutely. Can you learn to use it better and get better results? One hundred percent. But do you need special skills to use AI? Definitely not.

So, this article is for you, Dad, and for anyone else that is wondering how these tools can be useful to you today.

What AI Actually Is (and Isn’t)

AI is not a database. It's not sentient. It's not magic.

It doesn't know everything, and it doesn't have access to private or proprietary information unless you give it that information. Sometimes it gets things wrong, confidently wrong.

So what is it?

The type of AI most people are using today is called generative AI. You give it something, it generates something useful back. Text, images, ideas, explanations.

At its core, it's really good at recognizing patterns and predicting what should come next. When you ask it a question, it's not looking up the answer like a search engine. It's generating a response based on patterns it learned from a massive amount of data. It gives its best guess at what a helpful answer looks like.

Most of the time, that works surprisingly well.

But that's also its biggest weakness. Because it's generating what's most likely to be a good answer, not necessarily what's actually true, it can give you something that sounds right but isn't.

I ran into this recently. I was trying to remember the artist who performed a specific version of a song I really like. I knew a few details: first name starting with "D," last name with "G," and the song title. AI confidently gave me the wrong artist. I corrected it, gave it more details, and it gave me another wrong answer. Closer, but still wrong. I found it myself eventually.

That's how it works. Most likely, not necessarily correct.

Use your judgment, especially when the details matter. But don't let that stop you from using it. It's still one of the most useful tools I've picked up in years.

Four Use Cases

Okay, so, what is AI good at and how can you use it?

I’m going to offer four use cases to you of ways that I use AI outside of my job as a software engineer.

Research

After years of saving, we recently purchased a car. This is a big purchase! Before making a purchase like this, my wife and I spend a lot of time researching vehicles to ensure we're spending our money wisely. For previous car purchases, that meant hours and hours of reading reviews, researching recalls, finding out which years have good ratings, and so on.

But today? We can ask AI to do a lot of the grunt work for us.

“We're interested in purchasing a used family vehicle. We want it to be reliable, seat 8 people, and have a low cost of ownership. Can you find the top 3 options, break down their cost, the years with the fewest problems, the things to look out for, and the average cost of ownership for each one? Please also indicate your level of certainty in each claim.”

A few moments later, you'll have a decent starting point for your research.

We did similar things when we purchased our car. We had ongoing conversations with AI to work through our questions and concerns . We would double-check the important things that mattered to us but found it to be a great tool for gathering data.

Learning

This is somewhat an extension of research, but it goes a step further. You can use AI to help you understand things you do not know.

Last year, I injured myself mountain biking. I am a software engineer who exercises regularly, not a physical therapist. I had never dealt with a serious injury before, so this was new territory for me. Suddenly I could not use my arm for several weeks, and when I could, I had to rebuild strength from almost nothing.

I knew physical therapy was going to be critical, but I did not know where to start.

So I started learning.

I asked AI to help me understand what was going on. What kind of injury was this? What typically helps? What should I avoid? What does recovery usually look like?

This gave me a baseline. From there, I validated what I was learning with my doctor and other sources. I was not replacing professional care. I was making myself more informed so I could participate in my recovery.

As I progressed, I kept using AI to adjust. I would describe what I was feeling, what movements were working, and what still hurt. Based on that, it helped me think through exercises and progression.

It did not heal me. It could not see me or diagnose me. But it helped me understand what was happening and make better decisions along the way.

I have used it for other things as well. Home maintenance tasks I have never done before. Topics I know nothing about. Even learning how to use AI itself more effectively.

Next time you run into something you do not understand, try asking AI to explain it. Ask follow-up questions. Have it simplify things. It is like having someone you can ask as many questions as you want without feeling like you are wasting their time.

Just remember to use good judgment, especially when it comes to anything serious. AI can help you understand, but it should not be the final authority.

Content Creation

Last Christmas, I went to a white elephant gift exchange with some neighbors. We had good food and good company. There were some amazing and some awful gifts. But the favorite gift?

One neighbor went through another neighbor’s facebook page, grabbed a dozen or so pictures, and had AI turn them into coloring pages. They then printed those out, put them in a book, and wrapped them up with markers.

It was a hit. Everyone loved it even if they were slightly disturbing.

Last year, my family and I were on vacation. The kids were very into Harry Potter at the time and had a lot of fun with playing pretend with Ron Weasley. At that time, I had just introduced them to some kid-friendly metal music.

So, we were having fun one day and made a metal song about Ron Weasley going insane using Suno. There’s no way I could have made a complete metal track on my own, but it was a hit! The kids had a lot of fun with it.

AI augments our abilities. If you have a fun idea but lack the skill? Give it to AI. The worst that’ll happen is that it completely misses it. But more likely is you’ll have a workable starting point or even a pretty good version of what you wanted. It is a simple way to explore ideas you would never otherwise try.

Brainstorming

This is probably what I use AI for most.

Sometimes you have an idea, but it is not fully formed yet. Other times, you do not have an idea at all and just need a place to start. This is where AI can be surprisingly helpful.

I have used it for things like planning trips, coming up with gift ideas, and figuring out what to do for holidays or family activities. You can give it a little context about the situation and it will generate a list of options to work from.

For example, you might say, “I am planning a weekend trip with my family. We have young kids, want something outdoors, and do not want to travel more than a few hours. What are some ideas?” Within a few seconds, you have a list of options to consider and work with.

That is really the value here. You do not have to come up with the perfect idea on your own. You can react to something, refine it, and go back and forth until it feels right.

I use this in my own work as well. I will have AI generate lists of project or writing ideas, then pick a few that stand out and explore them further. It helps me get unstuck and move forward.

Brainstorming is not about replacing your thinking. It is about getting momentum. Sometimes all you need is a starting point, and AI is very good at giving you one.

Conclusion

These are four simple ways I have used AI and found value in it.

Do you need to be careful? Absolutely. These tools are only as good as the information we give them. But can they help you and save you time? In many cases, yes.

You do not need to learn anything advanced to get started.

Next time you have a question, something you need to write, or an idea you are trying to work through, try asking AI.

You might be surprised at how useful it already is