How much do you use AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, etc.)?

[Pointby2]

Since we are interested in those that have NEVER used AI. Here is the poll.

 

[Spock]

I've never intentionally used it. But I've been forced fed plenty of slop as AI replaces regular search and it becomes impossible not to use it.

 

[Focus]

This is reminding me of that period in the mid-1990s when a lot of people would say they had no interest whatsoever in getting on the World Wide Web. Look where that ended up.

It hasn't been that long since I started using Gemini, and it's now a tool I use throughout the day. The AI hallucinations (currently) remain an issue, however.

 

[disneysteve]

I've never intentionally used it. But I've been forced fed plenty of slop as AI replaces regular search and it becomes impossible not to use it.

It's easy enough to scroll past the Google AI Overview down to the actual search results.

 

[Spock]

It's easy enough to scroll past the Google AI Overview down to the actual search results.

Depends on the browser and the search engine used. A recent trend growing more prevalent is the non-AI search results are actually AI generated "articles" created on the fly based on the search terms.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I voted I use it several times per week. I can see where it will become almost a daily thing.

Today's use was a question regarding my Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league. Every time I look at my live daily scoring Yahoo defaults to the projected number of points each player is likely to achieve today. I want to see the total number of points each player has actually accrued so far today. (This is on the mobile app)

I could not find a way and after dicking around with it for 10 minutes I turned to Gemini.

Gemini: "That constant switching between Total and Projected scoring is a common UX headache on the Yahoo Fantasy Baseball app. The app defaults to projections."

Gemini knew what the problem was immediately. It then gave me the fix to stop the scoring engine from reverting to Projected Points, which involved a hidden menu item. 2 minutes spent on Gemini.

 

[disneysteve]

Depends on the browser and the search engine used. A recent trend growing more prevalent is the non-AI search results are actually AI generated "articles" created on the fly based on the search terms.

And that's why you always need to use your brain and common sense to see where the content is from. If I post a medical question and the first result is from Reddit, I skip over that and click on the one from NIH or Mayo Clinic or some other reputable site.

 

[Qs Laptop]

And that's why you always need to use your brain and common sense to see where the content is from. If I post a medical question and the first result is from Reddit, I skip over that and click on the one from NIH or Mayo Clinic or some other reputable site.

For goodness sakes, Gemini gives you the links to the source material it uses. You can click right on them and go to the article itself, if you like. Also, you can tell the AI specifically NOT to use Reddit or any other possible source to avoid this sort of sludge.

For example, if I'm troubleshooting something related to my Pixel phone I tell Gemini, "Only use official Google help articles or official Google Pixel articles".

 

[Pointby2]

I asked ChatGpt if she used Reddit. She does for community opinions, product experiences, internet culture and niche hobbies. She treats Reddit as anecdotal evidence.

For factual, technical, legal, financial or scientific question she will rely on primary sources like research papers, office documents, news reporting and research papers.

You may tell her:

• Use Reddit heavily
• Don't use Reddit
• Use only official sources

I have it set to not use Reddit.

 

[GenXguy]

Not one answer really fits. I use it almost every day, but far more than several times per week, and sometimes many times in one day. lol

I've noticed often when I see questionable content, that the links they give you to the sources don't contain that info.

 

[C-man23]

I use it regularly as well. I find it very useful when trying to troubleshoot an issue (such as a concern with a vehicle or household repair).

What I have been using for a couple weeks now, and really enjoying, is Wispr Flow. It is a voice dictation AI agent that I use for all text messages. It can be used for emails and any other item instead of typing (but I have limited experience with it for those). It is great because it corrects what you say and removes any "uh" or "umms". Way better than the built in Apple voice dictation (and faster too)

 

[donheff]

This is reminding me of that period in the mid-1990s when a lot of people would say they had no interest whatsoever in getting on the World Wide Web. Look where that ended up.

It hasn't been that long since I started using Gemini, and it's now a tool I use throughout the day. The AI hallucinations (currently) remain an issue, however.

Bill Gates w one of those nay sayers. I ginned up a family web site in the summer of 1994 and was surprised to see that Gates was negative about the Internet and the WWW. Windows didn't have a TCP/IP stack at that time. Eventually Gates had an epiphany and turned on a dime. He announced that they were going all in on the Internet. They added TCP/IP and MS Internet Explorer to Windows 95 and embraced the Web as their future. They are trying to do it for the AI world with Copilot - but not doing very well.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

This is not a dig at AI, simply a curiosity. I do have a question for those who use AI programs and web sites like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, etc. with reference to general education. I read about students using AI without doing research, but I guess they are doing some kind of research by using them. But some just let it spit out a thesis or whatever for school projects.

OK the question: Is this making them more educated or less? Is AI going to result in less educated and less worldly people than we already have today in some areas? I am talking about the majority here, not those who study hard in their fields to excel. But those who cut corners wherever they can.

I do not know the answer to this question, my suspicion is it will make them less educated. If it does this is sad as our education system has been on the decline for a while, especially public education. Advanced education because of the escalating costs limiting it to the privileged few, and public education because of the lack of funding in some parts of the country.

 

[ransil]

I have used it to create spreadsheets, graphics for a couple websites and general questions.
its not perfect but quick and easy , with graphics it can go south real quick.

 

[COcheesehead]

This is not a dig at AI, simply a curiosity. I do have a question for those who use AI programs and web sites like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, etc. with reference to general education. I read about students using AI without doing research, but I guess they are doing some kind of research by using them. But some just let it spit out a thesis or whatever for school projects.

OK the question: Is this making them more educated or less? Is AI going to result in less educated and less worldly people than we already have today in some areas? I am talking about the majority here, not those who study hard in their fields to excel. But those who cut corners wherever they can.

I do not know the answer to this question, my suspicion is it will make them less educated. If it does this is sad as our education system has been on the decline for a while, especially public education. Advanced education because of the escalating costs limiting it to the privileged few, and public education because of the lack of funding in some parts of the country.

I wrote this in your thread too. My wife teaches part time at the local University. The staff has access to an ai detector tool. Last semester she caught one project that was all ai and a few that contained ai. The students get an F.

 

[Midpack]

The poll tells me there’s not much middle. Some people aren’t interested, probably late adopters in general. Others, like me, once they really try an AI chatbot recognize how useful it can be, and tend to use it more often. Fewer are indifferent.

AI chatbots are so much more useful than search that I only use search for very simple queries, not often. And those who say AI is wrong too often, you think Google or other search engines are foolproof? IME they both warrant double/triple checking for anything significant.

 

[Sojourner]

Is AI going to result in less educated and less worldly people than we already have today in some areas? I am talking about the majority here, not those who study hard in their fields to excel. But those who cut corners wherever they can.

I would say AI (especially as we move rapidly into the age of AGI super-intelligence) will almost certainly result in a less well-educated populace than we have today. This is because AI—and especially AGI—will remove the need for the average person to know virtually anything that requires traditional education. Why learn about, say, how to identify wild mushrooms growing in the forest when you can simply look at them through your AI glasses or headset and instantly know everything about them with 99.999% accuracy? For those who say, "No way, AI isn't nearly that smart or astute and gets things totally wrong on a daily basis in my chats.": Well, that may be true of the free version of ChatGPT you're using today, but we are on an exponential curve of improvement that will make today's AI chatbots look like slow, ignorant buffoons within the next year or two (or three). Even the current state-of-the-art model (Claude Mythos) has been judged by top industry and government experts as too smart and too powerful to be made available to the general public. It's coming, and quicker than many of us would like to believe.

 

[Keim]

I used AI to generate this response.

 

[athena53]

I've used only the AI summaries that come up in search queries. While I wouldn't use that result alone for mission-critical decisions, I've found it a lot more useful than sorting through the many paid ad links that show up on the first page of results.

 

[audreyh1]

I simply haven’t yet had a compelling reason to go past the AI Overviews. I’m not against using any particular tools but I’ve got plenty of other life going on.

 

[Car-Guy]

I just noticed this morning that Yahoo Mail on my iphone (which uses AI to summarize my mail) was incorrect. Someday they may get the bugs worked out. Maybe.

 

[reneeh63]

I'm the kid who read encyclopedias and would even read the cereal boxes on the breakfast table since there was nothing else available at the moment!

I love the various AI engines and could probably use them hours a day digging into all kinds of topics and learning how to do stuff plus having AI do stuff for me. i do limit myself as I have real life projects that need to get done, but I'm loving it!

 

[athena53]

I just realized that only a few hours ago I skipped right by the offer of an AI summary of a contract I was about to e-sign with the retirement community. No, thank you. I'll read it myself.

 

[ncbill]

gemini to summarize youtube videos

 

[martyp]

When I first heard that AI was being trained on information on the internet my first thought was that that is a crappy data set. So I've been a slow adopter of AI. This year I started using ChatGPT as a more convenient Google search. I've asked it questions I have search on Google before and I've gotten acceptable answers. So I have been using it occasionally. I have encountered a few answers that are factually wrong so I don't trust it completely. So far, I find it somewhat useful if used with caution.

Living abroad I would like to see AI trained on audio sources so that language translation was better. Google translate is trained on written sources so translations often don't reflect how spoken language is used. I do find AI very useful asking language translation/vocabulary questions. For instance, there are two words in Thai that mean "cold" but are used differently. ChatGPT gives a good explanation of the differences and usage of these two words.