I still encounter a lot of folks who haven’t given AI a try yet. Some even say things like “It scares me.” Allow me to share some of what I’ve learned.
There is no need to be afraid of AI in its present state. I can’t speak for the future. Generative AI is, in a gross simplification, nothing more than a very sophisticated prediction engine, guessing what to say next based on the vast amounts of text it was trained on from books, articles, websites, and more. Although the AI can produce remarkable human-like responses, it doesn’t “know” or “understand” in the way humans do. It doesn’t form opinions, have intentions, or grasp the meaning of its outputs—it simply follows statistical probabilities to craft incredible answers.
“So, Karl, what’s out there and what do you use?” you might ask. There are many AI tools to choose from and I have settled on three for now. When it comes to getting answers about Microsoft products like Excel or SharePoint, I use the Microsoft tool, Copilot, via its web page.
When it comes to pure research, I use Perplexity’s website. When you ask Perplexity to research something, like “do a comparison of the features of an iPhone 15 to an iPhone 16 Pro”, it uses AI to analyse your prompt, then uses web search to find the answers. It uses its AI again to summarize what it found on various sites while still giving you all the links in case you want to check them out yourself.
For everything else, I use ChatGPT, but I pay for access to the Plus version. For what? The possibilities are endless. I used ChatGPT to help me write certain aspects of this article. I’ve used it to explain the legalese in my latest will. It has analysed Excel files for me and extracted meaning from the numbers, even producing charts. Explain what the ‘a’, ‘b’, and ‘c’ mean on a water heater dial. Act as my personal chef and suggest recipes based on the ingredients I have on hand. Explain a concept in a way a 10-year-old would understand. Brainstorm some ideas with me. Upload a picture and ask it to identify what’s in it. Get an explanation on the differences between an RRSP and a TFSA. Practice a new language. I could go on for hours.
I’ve also come across people who refuse to try it because they’re afraid they won’t master it well enough to get anything useful out of it. To those folks I recommend Pi AI. It is much more conversational and very easy and friendly to interact with.
Yes, there are mobile apps for that too. When I’m on the run, it’s easy to ask AI for help with just about anything. I teach basic AI use to a variety of audiences and it’s the most fun and interesting thing I’ve ever done in my life. Ironic, since AI is destined to replace me as an explainer of things. I encourage you to try it.
Karl Plesz
Your Productivity Guru
Click here to the Montgomery Community News home page for the latest Montgomery community updates.
