I use the term "me" loosely meaning the public population in general.
I'm 74, what benefit is there for me?
I hear comments about helping improve medicine, weather prediction,ect.
What about it's ability to make fake photos, videos, and spoof my voice. That could get a person convicted of a crime that they didn't do. No help to me!
I am having trouble figuring out just what day to day benefit it has to the common person.
We have all heard the term that people make mistakes but it takes a computer to really foul things up. Seems like AI will just magnify that.

I mean.. basically whatever you want or need. Unless you start playing with Gen AI. It's hard to explain.

But a random list I had created by AI would include:

Home & Daily Life
Create grocery shopping lists

Suggest easy-to-make meals

Recommend simple home exercises

Set up daily routines for energy and structure

Help organize medications into a schedule

Suggest low-maintenance houseplants

Provide reminders for appointments (via writing templates)

Explain how to clean/maintain household appliances

Provide simple home repair advice

Recommend ways to declutter safely

Tech Help & Troubleshooting
Explain how to use a smartphone

Walk through how to send an email

Help identify scam/phishing emails

Guide how to download a new app

Explain what Wi-Fi is and how to reset it

Teach how to use Zoom or FaceTime

Help organize and label digital photos

Give step-by-step instructions for online shopping

Guide how to unsubscribe from spam

Recommend easy-to-use tablets or phones for seniors

Writing & Communication
Help write a birthday message or card

Draft thank-you notes or holiday letters

Create invitations for family gatherings

Rewrite something in simpler language

Turn stories into poems or short essays

Help write a journal or memoir entry

Summarize long articles or news stories

Translate text into another language

Write letters to local representatives

Create a family newsletter

Mental Fitness & Learning
Suggest brain games or riddles

Teach fun facts or trivia

Share daily “on this day in history” facts

Explain how things work (like microwaves or AI)

Answer curious “Why?” or “What if?” questions

Give gentle math puzzles or logic exercises

Teach something new (like a new word daily)

Provide “Did you know?” history facts

Explain how to start learning something like knitting or watercolor painting

Help recall lyrics or finish song lines

Entertainment & Fun
Suggest good movies from their generation

Recommend music playlists (Golden Oldies, Jazz, etc.)

Share jokes or light humor

Create fun stories starring their grandkids

Recommend free games online

Make up a bedtime story for grandchildren

Provide lyrics to favorite songs

Explain plot summaries of classic books

Help plan a themed movie night

Create fictional stories based on their life

Travel & Exploration (Real or Virtual)
Describe famous places as a virtual tour

Recommend scenic road trips nearby

Share historical facts about places they’ve visited

Suggest senior-friendly travel destinations

Explain airport or cruise procedures simply

Help plan a day trip or weekend getaway

Make a packing checklist

Suggest comfortable travel shoes or gear

Convert currency or translate travel phrases

Simulate a “travel conversation” in a different language

Family & Legacy
Help organize family history info

Suggest questions to ask relatives in interviews

Draft obituary templates (if needed)

Write a story about their childhood for the grandkids

Create a timeline of their life

Help compile recipes into a family cookbook

Write captions for old family photos

Format a family tree

Draft a letter to future generations

Record special memories or favorite sayings

Time & Organization
Help set weekly goals

Recommend free printable calendars

Create a daily or monthly checklist

Organize reminders for birthdays and anniversaries

Provide ideas for “theme days” to add structure (e.g., Puzzle Tuesdays)

In amongst the positives, skepticism should be employed with the results, especially if one has no background on the subject matter, as AI can also:

- Make nonsense look official and solid

- Blend reality, fantasy and crazy into one seamless concoction

- Merge actual useful information with incorrect stuff found online, and then add its own hallucinations and present this crazy mixture as fact

- Be used by fraudsters to beef up their credibility

So, yeah it's got potential but - like fire - it needs to be both understood and controlled to be used. The output looks authoritative even when it's complete hooey.

A friend used it to plan a trip to Iceland, even taking into account some health restrictions.

Have it write a formal letter to be sent to your HOA that you don’t give a damn how high your azaleas are.

It will be more and more, but you may not realize you are interacting with it. For example, the package detection algorithms on my doorbell camera.

Ask not what AI can do for you, ask what you can do for your AI overloads.

Since this is a gun board, I'll share my experience with AI in regards to firearms.

I've been looking at picking up another 1911 to add to my collection. I've asked AI to compare weights of Stainless Commander to lightweight Commander. I've asked to compare 1911's from Colt and Springfield. I've asked it to give me a report on all the different types of 1911 firing pin safeties.

Outside of that, I've asked it to help with writing code, medical questions/clarifications for my EMT hobby, etc.

It's quite amazing at what it can answer, but take everything with a grain of salt. It can be wrong sometimes, but you can correct it. For example, on my comparison between Colt and Springfield, it was telling me Colt had a Series 80 firing pin block on the Competition series. Which according to Colt's website it has a series 70. I asked AI to double check and it explained it was wrong and it gave me a synopsis of when they changed from series 80 to 70 on the Competition model.

Plus, you can do some stupid stuff...

Generate a picture of an Ogre swinging a large hammer, smashing little people

PORN

No joke, porn has been one of the major driving forces behind photography, video, cable, the internet, and now AI.

quote:

Originally posted by iron chef:
PORN

No joke, porn has been one of the major driving forces behind photography, video, cable, the internet, and now AI.

In the book "Sex, Bombs and Burgers: How War, Porn and Fast Food Created Technology As We Know It" by Peter Nowak, puts forth the argument for his book title.

He gives the origins of everyday inventions, tracing their roots back to military research, the adult entertainment industry's push for new media formats, and the advancements pioneered by fast-food chains.

I didn't remember the book off the top of my head; I asked Gemini the following: "what book had as it's premise that sex, food, and war has been the driver for technological advances. it was an economics book for general readers"

Depends on how creative you are.

Math problems…

Also…
Lug nut torque spec for 2004 Wrangler?

In under three seconds:
The correct lug nut torque specification for a 2004 Jeep Wrangler is 85–115 ft-lbs for 1/2 x 20 lug nuts with a 60-degree cone.
This torque range applies to factory wheels. Always use a calibrated torque wrench and tighten the nuts in a star pattern for even pressure distribution. Choosing a value in the middle of the range (such as 100 ft-lbs) is common practice, but any value within 85–115 ft-lbs is within factory guidelines.
After driving 25–50 miles, it is recommended to recheck lug nut torque to ensure proper seating.

I use it almost daily.

Find Sarah Connor's address

Once you learn how to ask questions to it, it becomes a useful tool.

It takes practice, but most information is out there, you can retrieve it if you learn how to ask for it.

The only way you can understand it is to try it. Just go to "perplexity.ai", and type in a short sentence about anything you may be interested in. You'll be surprised.

I used it this afternoon to suggest some computer code to get some ideas to start a new function for a software deliverble I'm running late on. Usually the code is never completely correct, but it helps me get started, so I can make my own refinements until it does what I need. So you basically refine your question slightly to help refine the answer, until you get to the information you want.

quote:

Originally posted by gjgalligan:
I'm 74, what benefit is there for me?

I suspect that most of the answers you’ve received thus far ignored that statement.

I am 79 and most of the comments above are completely meaningless to me, but a couple of months ago a 66-YO friend told me how useful Microsoft Copilot was to him. I started using it, and it is useful for certain things, especially to answer specific fact questions. For example I wanted to know the recommended torque values for the Tikka T1x Ace Target chassis action screws. The answer I got was that Tikka doesn’t specify, but it referenced online discussions about the question and gave me an answer based on those discussions.

Many of the questions I’ve asked could probably have been found through a traditional Google search if I were patient enough, but the responses I get from Copilot to questions such as “What’s the term for feeling very hot in the latter stages of severe hypothermia?” are more complete, plus it will usually suggest follow-up questions relating to the subject.

I’m not about to ask AI to write a condolence message or birthday card greeting for me. When I can’t do either will be when it’s time to take a bottle of 18-YO Macallan out into the woods on a minus 25° day and suck it down while lying in a snowdrift. But I do find my limited use of AI the ways I do to be of value even at my age. And, oh: Not all of its answers are correct, so verify if it’s important.

sigfreund, you have given the most fitting response yet.
Especially the part about having to verify if the information given is correct. That means I have do the research anyways to be sure.

Coincidentally, yesterday there was a WSJ article related to this: "‘I Feel Like I’m Going Crazy’: ChatGPT Fuels Delusional Spirals"

Link to non-paywalled article: WSJ 8/7/25

Bring not just a grain, but a truckload of salt when using this stuff. Is there some wheat? Possibly, yes but also chaff and the need for knowing how to separate the two is key. As the OP notes just above, you have to do the research anyway to be sure.

quote:

Originally posted by cparktd:
Math problems…


I use it almost daily.

This may surprise you but AI is not as good at math problems as you might think it should be.

I was surprised myself. And I’ve seen this even with Grok, the supposedly most STEM AI.

One time, I didn’t want to break out my spreadsheet or calculator, I wanted to know where along the door bottom should I place a door stop so the door knob is just off the wall. I fed it the straight numbers so it should have been a straight triangulation problem. It could never come up with the correct answer.