AI Use

Lately I’ve turned a corner on AI use*. Whereas before my use was largely of an exploratory nature, to check out its general capabilities and limits, my use has become more frequent and practical. To give a few examples:

Technology

This is one of the greatest strengths of AI. It has lots of access to lots of technical info. So I used it to request good options for generating audiobooks from ebooks, or reading ebooks, but getting better voice results, instead of awful sounding mechanical voices. This particular case was to help a friend get back to reading, since audiobooks weren’t available for many books he’s interested in, but ebooks are available.

Another example of something technical: I have a thermostat in my apartment that has very non-intuitive controls. I could have asked the apartment management and maybe they could have given me more info, but I’m guessing that would have been a lengthy and difficult wild goose chase. In contrast, I showed Gemini a photo of the thermostat and it identified the model and provided a description of its major functions.

Medical

I’ve been getting far more styes lately. Gemini suggested some possible reasons. I provided additional info. It narrowed down likely culprits and provided a suggested care routine along with some specific care products.

Of course I understand that medical diagnosis is a potentially troublesome area, but in this case it was very helpful.

Research

My gf and I were looking at her new passport and found a quote on the last page by someone we’d never heard of: Anna Julia Cooper. Turns out she’s a fascinating person, an early African American feminist thinker, the fourth woman ever to get a Ph.D., which she earned from the Sorbonne (thesis written and defended in French!). Ok, this part I could have looked up in Wikipedia. But inspiration strikes me: there must be other amazing but lesser known intellectuals/activists, especially POCs, and it seems fun and interesting to maybe do a series of children’s books about such people. Consulting Gemini, I got a great list of such people, details about their lives and accomplishments, and lists of resources to explore. AND, subsequently, lists of agents who say they’re interested in such projects, whether they’re currently accepting submissions, and instructions on how they like to receive submissions.

Try that with Wikipedia or just a Google search!

Travel

When I was in Prague recently, I told Gemini my specific interests and it developed day by day itineraries for places to visit, based on proximity within Prague, and including good places to eat given my love of Art Deco architecture. Gemini has made great suggestions for an upcoming trip to Istanbul also, based on time of year and interests. All with specific info about getting tickets and other such practical details. You could figure stuff like this out by doing web searches and perusing travel guides, but it seems way harder, especially based on my specific interests and the time of year.

Culinary

Gemini is really good at suggesting meal plans or individual recipes based on dietary considerations and ingredients at hand, including substitutions. My gf has an orange tree that has started bearing, and Gemini has had some great suggestions for juice recipes tailored to my juicer (KitchenAid masticating attachment), along with some helpful nutritional information, and even made suggestions about using the orange pulp in recipes (you can use orange pulp in things like bran muffins or as part of a marinade). When I was in Prague, Gemini helped me quickly adapt recipes to metric and solve weird problems like ingredient swaps (it’s hard to find vanilla extract there—instead they use vanilla-flavored sugar packets, but how much should one use as a substitute for vanilla extract? etc.).

Financial

I’ve used Gemini to help me with financial questions, such as when or why it makes sense to do balance transfers, breaking down the trade-off between the fees and the interest saved within certain time periods. What are the tax considerations for divorce and the way we executed our divorce, with its particular financial quirks. What are the steps needed for transferring my title to my name and then getting it registered in California, along with a list of forms, websites, etc. (this is a surprisingly complicated process)? Gemini to the rescue.

Car Maintenance

And on the subject of cars, telling Gemini my exact model can produce a list of known quirks of my model and year and a suggested maintenance schedule based on those quirks that’s far more detailed and helpful than the instructions you get in the owner’s manual, since it’s culled from forums where people discuss such things.

World Domination

Gemini is helping me develop a plan for world domination consistent with my future status as Der Übermensch.

*NOTE: Nearly all of what I’m calling “AI use” is using Gemini, and mostly its Pro or Thinking models, though occasionally the Flash model. I pay for the $20/mo. plan that includes some other Google benefits, such as increased cloud storage.