I am so foreign to this but my kids are telling me I could use it for work and correspondence, but can't walk me through it. How are you using AI?

I am still in the getting to know each other stage of the process. I primarily use Grok, as it has consistently given the most useful answers to what I have requested. I started out testing it with questions I have deep knowledge on already. This way I can judge its abilities to come up with coherent and correct answers.

I am getting more comfortable and accepting of Grok to use for things I am less familiar with now. It has had the best track record compared to ChatGPT, and one or two others that crapped the bed early on with results.

So far I have started using more for Spreadsheet development and error checking. Have also used to clean up emails, and some documents that I think got to wordy as I wrote them.

I will also sanitize some items for my work that I would like 2nd opinions on but don't trust enough to have company specific identifiers floating around in the ether. I will also delete the history of those conversations in Grok as well. Does it do anything, probably not, but makes me feel a little better about asking harder more meaningful questions to.

Try some that you want, and test with things you know more about than it should. This will give you a starting point to find the one you are most comfortable with. Use the exact same prompts for each one and see what gets returned for answers and compare. Grok is my go to, would use ChatGpt if Grok was down for some reason. The rest I can take or leave. Usually "leave" is my choice.


Edit to add the Grokified version of above. A bit more coherent. My writing is getting as bad as mu attitude the older I get.

Grok version: I'm still in the early "getting to know each other" stage with AI tools.

I primarily use Grok because it has consistently given me the most useful and reliable answers. I started by testing it with topics I already have deep knowledge about. This helped me evaluate how coherent, accurate, and well-reasoned its responses were.

I'm now getting more comfortable using it for things I'm less familiar with. So far, Grok has had the best track record compared to ChatGPT and a couple of others that disappointed me early on with poor or unreliable results.

These days, I mainly use it for spreadsheet development and error-checking, cleaning up emails, and tightening up documents that became too wordy. I’ve also started sanitizing certain work-related items when I want a second opinion but don’t want to risk sharing anything with company-specific details. I usually delete those conversation histories afterward too. It probably doesn’t make much difference, but it helps me feel better about asking more meaningful or sensitive questions.

My advice: Try a few different AIs yourself. Test them with prompts on topics you know well. Use the exact same questions across each model and compare the quality of the responses. That’s the best way to find which one you’re most comfortable with.

For me, Grok is my clear go-to. I’d only use ChatGPT if Grok was down. The others I can usually do without.

"Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them."

- Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam

Copilot with Claude or Gpt for technical stuff. Some code generation, some technical odds and ends.

“Write me an AWS cli command to extract X for a given Y”

From a business standpoint… if you could give a junior employee a specific outlined task that wasn’t physical ( dust this display case probably not gonna Grok well ), then there’s a possibility for you. Summarization of daily information for the industry? Find patterns in my sales data accounting for time of day, day of week, nearness of any holiday, weather, so on. Maybe patterns in pop culture to find current or predict future accessory trends. I making stuff up, I don’t know how the jewelry industry works, I just shovel 1s and 0s into the cloud furnace.

If you get a lot of customer email, AI could probably give you summaries, highlight ones that might need to be prioritized based on your needs, etc.

As for which one to use, they each seem to have strengths. Claude for code, Grok for more real time things, etc. Lots of opinions out there.

quote:

Originally posted by davetruong:
How are you using AI?

I'm not.

I've been working in the tech industry for close to 20 years now
They're pushing it big at work.
I'm resisting harder than they're pushing.
I don't need it.
I don't want it.

We're building our own at work, for internal resources, I still don't use it.
Don't think I've ever intentionally used it otherwise, other than the automatic brave/Google search summaries.

To write a lot of basic/quick Powershell scripts at work (in the Info-Tech world). Google search AI is getting so good, I rarely have to actually click on a link to get the answer I was originally looking for.

During a significant period of my life, I served in the US Navy, where my journey culminated in fulfilling my obligations as an instructor for an Advanced Communication System. My primary focus was course development. This was an area where I excelled, consistently surpassing expectations and demonstrating a high level of proficiency in designing and delivering effective training materials.

Now 40 years later, I began to notice changes occurring within my body. These changes were evident, yet there was no reasonable explanation for what was happening at the time. The uncertainty added a layer of complexity to my professional and personal life as I tried to understand these developments.

It was being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease that provided clarity to my symptoms. I noticed a marked decline in both my sentence structure and the overall quality of my written content. Expressing my thoughts became increasingly difficult, which led to considerable frustration.

In the fall of 2025, I decided to try using AI tools to help manage these challenges. By leveraging AI, I found effective ways to organize my thoughts, add clarity and structure to my writing, and review my work for coherence. AI technology has become a valuable resource in helping me communicate more effectively.

I use AI to manage my portfolio but that's not on a daily basis. I use AI as my productivity coach. It also serves as my tech support, editor, etc.

I asked it to help me answer your question. Here is what it said:



Here's an example from today:

quote:

Originally posted by airsoft guy:
"Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them."

- Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam

Truth.


I sometimes use the search engine results thing, but other than that not at all. And even then, I typically check the sources because I've found that often those search engine AI results are wrong, or at least not the correct variant or sub-model of the item I'm inquiring about.

Grok can help me get more done/act as a less distracting search engine.

EG, I’m working on something, and I can ask it, and it does the search - and I can keep going, and go back and fact check later.

I think it circles and it is good at rounding that all up.

Does a decent job of transcribing my handwritten notes - at least, well enough for me to use it as a framework to correct and expand on.

I’m trying to integrate it but other than searching for coupons discount codes and doing research for me (i.e. fine me the best microwave under so and so dollar range) I have not found anything ground shattering. Will be following this to get ideas.

AI is perfect for those that are the typical instant gratification seekers, and generally inclined to work faster, NOT better! They are largely unwilling to put in the hard work to achieve goals and as a result, never really experience the true satisfaction of accomplishment and a job well done. The use/reliance on AI is guaranteed to result in the intellectual laziness of those that partake in this foolery. It will be a net negative on society as a whole, and quite possibly the extinction of critical thinking!

I imagine AI will be particularly useful to those in control when it come time implement the next Mass Formation Psychosis event on society though.

I'm retired so I don't work anymore. But in my everyday life, I don't knowingly use AI, even though I suspect some of the things I see and hear online may be AI.

quote:

Originally posted by creslin:
I've been working in the tech industry for close to 20 years now
They're pushing it big at work.
I'm resisting harder than they're pushing.
I don't need it.
I don't want it.

Shot Answer yes. I use it to help edit or make emails sound more professional when needed. I tend to sound way to direct.

I use it for general topic research in a tons of different areas for technical recruiting. Short answer... Yes - I use it dang near every day.

I view using AI like asking a friend who is knowledgeable on a subject questions.

Recent examples, yesterday, I had a conversation with AI about how to prep and cook some beef country style ribs. I asked it to compare weights of a new camera lens I'm thinking about buying vs. lenses I already own.

For work, I use it to wordsmith all the tedious "paperwork" I have to complete before I put changes out on the network. It cut that process down from about an hour to around 20 mins.

Best way to get started, is just start asking it questions and you'll learn what it can and cannot do.

One firearms note, Gemini is much more friendly with firearms questions then ChatGPT.

Right now, tailoring cover letters & resume for job hunting.
Normally, not much daily use other than search summaries, which are rarely 100% correct for 'how to', but does give a good starting point.
I find search results less on-point since the AI bug has bitten, wonder why?

I use it most for topic development in slide preparation for scientific lectures. The main thing I've learned is the better/more precise you are in asking questions, the better it is at providing accurate responses.

I have a colleague using the Pro version of Chat GPT and the quality of graphics it can generate, including citations, is impressive.

It's ability to scour the literature in a fraction of the time it takes me is a big time saver.