Using AI

It seems like everyone has an opinion about AI nowadays. Some people absolutely hate AI. They freak out at anyone who uses AI, they are constantly railing against data centers, and they swear AI is going to be downfall of humanity. Then you have other folks who use AI for everything. They ask ChatGPT the most random questions. They have completely given up on problem-solving. 

I find myself somewhere in the middle. I use AI. A few years ago I was totally against the idea, but I found that there were some positive uses. I enjoy Microsoft’s CoPilot. I use it all the time. It has saved me countless hours when building different spreadsheets for work. The hardest part is getting the wording right, but once you get the hang of it, CoPilot will build what you need quickly.

I also use CoPilot to help me edit some of the stuff I write. Some of my longer, more serious posts, I have CoPilot take a look. Some of the edits I accept, while others I ignore. For example, everyone knows that AI loves an em dash, but I am a fan of an ellipsis…CoPilot tries to change them all to em dashes. Not on my watch!

Weirdly, I do not use AI to make flyers. I like to actually make those type of things in Canva, and for some reason I enjoy doing it. So why have AI steal my fun? 

I also use ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini at times for various things. I used ChatGPT to help analyze my golf picks this year (I was in a season long fantasy competition). I ended up finishing in the top ten. I like to use Claude to look at my fantasy baseball trades. I tried ChatGPT, but it kept messing up the season (for example, I asked for possible draft candidates in our rookie draft…it was naming players that were drafted last year, I had to remind it to look at the most recent MLB draft…it was annoying). 

Gemini is Google’s AI, and I like to use it for my random questions. The other day I was looking up potential coaching candidates for Maryland. I asked Gemini who the top candidates were and it gave me a solid list, I was then able to work through, and almost debate with Gemini the pros and cons of some of the candidates. I say almost debate since these AI chatbots are always trying to praise you and give you positive feedback, it is not a real debate. For example:
Me: I do not think Brian Kelly would be the right fit for Maryland, they need someone who is more accustomed to getting more out lesser talent. Maybe someone like Charles Huff.
Gemini: That is a perfect analysis! Huff would be a better fit for Maryland. Would you like me to analyze…blah blah blah

Gemini was able to pull up the names most associated with the opening, which was helpful. And the Terrapins may decide to hire Brian Kelly (this is not a post about that at all, haha), but once I was able to give Gemini a path to look at different coaches, it was able to provide a few names that were not in all of the articles written on the coaching search. 

But the most fun I had with Gemini came the other night. I was trying to think of a song. I had no clue how it went, or who it was by. So I asked Gemini this question:
Me: Can you find a song, it may be like Irish folk rock, and it has in the chorus either “oh” or maybe counting, like “one two three four”
Gemini then listed a bunch of songs, and none of them were it. So I tried a different tact. I said that might not actually be Irish, it could be a band trying to sound that way. And again, Gemini gives me a very wide array of songs, and none are correct.

Then I said “I am 99% sure the lead singer is female, and the song was played a bunch on The Lumineers station on Amazon Music a few years ago.”

Gemini: The song you are most likely thinking of is “Soldier, Poet, King” by The Oh Hellos. The lead vocalist is Maggie Heath, and the song does feel Celtic/Irish because of the brisk acoustic strumming. The oh-lei, oh-lai sounds like a rowdy pub chant. 

That was the song.

Now look, I am not saying we should use AI for everything. I hate the AI slop I see out there. A dog hosting a podcast? Ugh. Those weird AI comedians you see on Facebook Reels? No thank you, those are weird. The hundreds of AI created Star Wars videos…that usually look awful (I saw one the other day that the lightsaber of the Jedi bent sideways). 

So yeah, AI is part of our lives. You can choose how much or how little you use it.