Forget the robots taking over the world. What can AI do for you before dinner? Artificial intelligence may be one of the most talked-about technologies on the planet. Depending on what you read, AI is going to revolutionize everything, eliminate millions of jobs, cure diseases, write novels, drive our cars—or possibly take over civilization before we’ve finished breakfast. At Geezers Gadgets and Gizmos, we’d like to ask a considerably simpler question: What can AI actually do for us today?
And you don’t need to be a programmer—or particularly “techie”—to use it. Many AI tools now work by simply typing or saying what you want in ordinary language. Some can work with photographs and documents, and AI is increasingly appearing in devices we already use.
Here are seven practical ways you might put AI to work right now.
1. Explain Something You Don’t Understand
Ever read something three times and still wondered:
“What the heck does that mean?”
AI can be remarkably useful as a translator from complicated English into normal English.
Try something like:
“Explain this to me in plain English and tell me the three things I really need to know.”
You can use that approach with instructions, technology terminology, contracts, product descriptions and plenty of other complicated material.
You can even follow up:
“That’s still too complicated. Explain it more simply.”
And AI won’t get offended.
One caution: when the information involves medical, legal, financial or other important decisions, use AI to help you understand the material—not as your sole authority. Verify important information with an appropriate professional or reliable source.
2. Plan a Trip Without Opening 37 Browser Tabs
Remember planning vacations before the Internet? Now we have the opposite problem: too much information.
Tell the AI assistant:
“We’re spending four days in Boston. We like history and good restaurants, don’t want to walk more than a few miles each day, and we’d like one day trip. Build us an itinerary.”
Then refine it:
“Make Day 2 less strenuous.”
“Give us indoor alternatives if it rains.”
“Create a packing list.”
“Which attractions require advance reservations?”
Instead of starting over every time your plans change, you can keep refining the same conversation. For anything involving current prices, hours, reservations or schedules, make sure the information is checked against a current source.
3. Write the Email You’ve Been Avoiding
You know the email. You’ve been thinking about it for three days. You’ve written the first sentence six times.
Give AI the facts and say:
“Turn this into a friendly but professional email. Keep it under 200 words.”
Or:
“This sounds too formal. Make it warmer.”
AI doesn’t have to replace your voice. It can help you find your voice when you’re staring at a blank screen. Use it for thank-you notes, invitations, complaint letters, follow-ups, announcements—or that email you really should have answered Tuesday.
4. Figure Out What’s for Dinner
Here’s one of our favorites because it demonstrates how uncomplicated AI can be.
Tell it:
“I have eggs, spinach, cheese, mushrooms and half an onion. What can I make for dinner?”
You can add:
“Nothing complicated.”
“Make it vegetarian.”
“I only want to use one pan.”
Suddenly those random things sitting in your refrigerator start looking suspiciously like dinner. Some AI systems can also work with images, so instead of describing everything, you may be able to show the AI what you’re looking at and ask for help. Current systems such as ChatGPT and Meta AI support working with images in various ways.
5. Learn How to Use the Gadget That’s Driving You Crazy
Before declaring war on the television remote, printer, smartphone or thermostat, try asking AI.
Instead of searching through a 72-page manual, you might say:
“I have a [model name]. Explain how to change this setting one step at a time.”
Better still, tell it:
“Give me one step at a time and wait for me after each step.”
That’s an important difference. Traditional instructions tell everybody how something works. AI can potentially explain it the way you need it explained. And voice-based AI makes this increasingly conversational. ChatGPT, for example, supports spoken conversations in which you can ask questions and hear responses rather than relying solely on typing.
6. Show AI What You’re Looking At
This is where things start getting really interesting. AI isn’t limited to words anymore.
Depending on the device and service, you can show it a photograph or image and ask:
- “What am I looking at?”
- “What does this symbol mean?”
- “Explain these controls.”
- “What kind of plant is this?”
- “What can I make with these ingredients?”
This ability to combine words, images and voice is called multimodal AI—but you don’t need to remember that. What matters is this:
Instead of figuring out how to describe the problem to the computer, you can increasingly just show it the problem.
7. Use AI Without Even Taking Out Your Phone
And this one we’ve actually tried. AI is moving beyond computers and phones and into things we wear—including glasses. With Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses, you can use voice commands and ask Meta AI questions about what you’re seeing. Meta describes its AI glasses as capable of providing information about the world around you, translation and other hands-free assistance.
That means the glasses can potentially become an AI assistant that’s seeing from approximately your point of view.
We’ve experienced this ourselves at Geezers Gadgets and Gizmos. During our hands-on review, we experimented with the glasses—including using them with a restaurant menu. That was when the idea became much more interesting than simply having a camera built into a pair of glasses.
SEE OUR HANDS-ON REVIEW: RAY-BAN META GEN 2 AI GLASSES
Meta’s current technology can use visual context from AI glasses to recognize text and provide information related to things such as menus and signs, although available capabilities vary by device, country and language.
That’s an important glimpse of where AI may be heading. Instead of sitting down at a computer and deciding:
“I’m going to use artificial intelligence now.”
AI increasingly becomes something that’s simply available when you need it.
One Thing AI Shouldn’t Replace
Your judgment. AI can be extraordinarily useful. It can also be wrong.
Don’t assume that something is true simply because an AI system says it confidently. Check important information, particularly anything involving health, money, legal matters or personal safety.
And there’s another side to AI that everyone—regardless of age—needs to understand:
Scammers can use AI too.
The Federal Trade Commission has specifically warned about scammers using AI-generated voice cloning in family-emergency scams. A call may actually sound like a child or grandchild asking for money. The FTC recommends independently calling the person using a phone number you already know rather than trusting the voice on the call. Consumer Advice That’s a subject worth an entire future Geezers, Gadgets and Gizmos post!
The Bottom Line
Artificial intelligence doesn’t have to mean robots, computer programming or science fiction.
Sometimes it means:
- Explain this.
- Help me write this.
- Plan this.
- What can I cook with this?
- How does this thing work?
- What am I looking at?
Or even:
- “Hey Meta, read this menu.”
The best technology isn’t necessarily the technology with the most impressive specifications. It’s technology that helps us do something we actually want to do. And that’s exactly what we’re interested in at Geezers Gadgets and Gizmos.
The Question
What would YOU like AI to make easier?
Planning a trip? Using technology? Cooking? Writing? Remembering things? Understanding something complicated? Tell us in the comments. And if you’ve never tried AI before, tell us what’s stopping you.
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We’re Alyson Grisham and Garrison Leykam, bringing two generations and two perspectives together to explore the products, technology and ideas that can make life easier, safer, more connected—and a lot more fun.
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