20 Surprising Ways People Use AI (with Real-Life Examples)
Redditors Share Their Creative Hacks for Work and Everyday Life
I hate sounding like a broken record. And, the truth is, you write as much about AI as I do—and as often—it’s bound to happen.
Telling you to use ChatGPT to compose emails and social media posts only goes so far. That’s why, not too long ago, I recommended reading over your old ChatGPT threads every 30 days or so.
You can gather many actionable insights that way. It sheds light on how many ways AI is already proving useful in your life. It can also spur new ideas.
But, let’s face it.
We are creatures of habit. Habit means routines. Routines are good, but they also lock us into tunnel vision.
We don’t know what we’re leaving on the table because we’re too busy going through the motions in our own lives.
Getting comfortable.
To fight this, take a moment to stop what you’re doing now and then. Learn from others. Read and steal as much as you can from other people.
That’s Right. Steal.
Not intellectual property, of course. Just ideas.
Find a place for those ideas in your job, at home, or even raising your kids. The human experiment has come this far because we’re open-source creatures.
One culture has learned from another has learned from another.
We take what has come before us, and we make it our own. That’s what I’m trying to do with AI. This journey recently led me to a rather interesting reddit thread. You can read the whole thing here.
Below, I’ve encapsulated 20 of my favorite use-cases from the discussion.
For each one, I give an example along with the user name. I encourage you to check each one out and keep learning from others and sharing your own experiences every chance you get.
1. Fixing Mechanical Problems with Just a Picture
Reddit user shadowgod656 used Gemini 1.5 to fix an issue with a CNC machine by sending an image of a poorly labeled pneumatic part. The AI not only identified the part but also explained its function and suggested replacement options.
Your Turn:
Sample Prompt: "Analyze this image of a machine part and tell me what it is, how it functions, and what testing or replacement options are available."
2. Crafting Heartfelt Email Responses
Reddit user Tha-KneeGrow uses ChatGPT to help draft empathetic, professional responses to unhappy customers. The AI removes emotional bias from the communication, allowing the user to maintain professionalism.
Your Turn:
Sample Prompt: "Write a professional response to a customer complaint. Make sure the tone is empathetic but also maintains professionalism."
3. Writing Long, Boring Corporate Letters
mojorisn45 turned to ChatGPT to write a lengthy and tedious letter requesting an increase in refund limits from a credit card processor. This saved time and ensured the letter met formal business standards.
Your Turn:
Sample Prompt: "Write a formal letter to request an increase in refund limits for my business. Make it long and detailed, emphasizing justification."
4. Uploading Songs for Detailed Feedback
Musician PinkWellwet used ChatGPT to upload a song for highly detailed feedback. The AI analyzed the song, offering critiques, pinpointing mistakes with timestamps, and providing suggestions for improvement.
Your Turn:
Sample Prompt: "Analyze this audio file of my song and give me detailed feedback, including timestamps for areas where my pitch was off and how to improve."
5. Building a Voice-Activated Robot Companion
rainbowdarkmatter used Raspberry Pi and AI models like Hailo-8L to build a voice-activated robot that could recognize objects and retain conversational memory. This DIY project created an interactive robot for daily tasks.
Your Turn:
Sample Prompt: "Create a simple AI assistant with voice activation that can identify objects and retain memory for conversational context."
6. Navigating Through Complex Locations
Reddit user JohnnyJinxHatesYou turned to ChatGPT when they got lost in Las Vegas’ Venetian hotel. By describing their surroundings, the AI provided accurate directions back to the lobby.
Your Turn:
Sample Prompt: "I’m lost in [specific location]. Based on my description, provide directions to the main entrance or lobby."
7. Using AI as a Mobile Guide for Daily Steps
Reddit user lildrew999 used ChatGPT to calculate how many daily steps they needed to take to lose weight. By entering their current weight, daily calorie intake, and exercise habits, the AI provided personalized guidance.
Your Turn:
Sample Prompt: "Help me calculate how many steps I need to take daily to lose weight. My current weight is [insert weight], and I burn [insert calories] daily."
8. AI-Generated Song Lyrics for Fun
Redditor Bana1101 used ChatGPT for lyrics and Suno for music to create fun songs during a shopping trip with their child. The AI generated playful lyrics to add humor to the experience.
Your Turn:
Sample Prompt: "Create a fun song about [specific theme] for a shopping trip. Include humorous and playful lyrics."
9. Creating a Thesaurus on Steroids
iguacu designed a custom ChatGPT that functioned as a thesaurus with context-aware suggestions, offering nuanced alternatives based on tone and meaning.
Your Turn:
Sample Prompt: "Suggest alternative words for [specific word] that match a formal, persuasive tone."
10. Generating Summaries for Time-Starved Readers
Future-Still-6463 used ChatGPT to summarize research papers and books. The AI created concise summaries, allowing the user to quickly decide if further reading was necessary.
Your Turn:
Sample Prompt: "Summarize this [research paper/book] into a concise 300-word summary with key points and takeaways."
11. Designing Full Workshops with AI Assistance
Teacher iguacu used ChatGPT to generate slides, discussion questions, and student exercises for a 60-minute workshop. This saved time and allowed more focus on student engagement.
Your Turn:
Sample Prompt: "Create a 60-minute workshop on [subject], including slides, a list of discussion questions, and two practical student exercises."
12. Communicating with Engineers—Politely
Reddit user RyuguRenabc1q used ChatGPT to craft polite but firm messages to engineers or system admins, ensuring professional communication when resolving technical issues.
Your Turn:
Sample Prompt: "Write a professional but firm email to a technical support team explaining an unresolved issue and requesting immediate action."
13. Building Real-Time Weather Forecast Tools
quasarr32 used AI models and weather data to create a personalized weather forecast tool. This offered more accurate predictions than generic weather apps.
Your Turn:
Sample Prompt: "Use past week's temperature, humidity, and wind speed data to predict the weather for the next 7 days in [location]."
14. Transforming Photos into 3D Models
QuantumWill used AI to convert 2D photos into 3D models, enabling them to visualize furniture layouts in their home.
Your Turn:
Sample Prompt: "Convert this 2D photo of a room into a 3D model and suggest different furniture layouts."
15. Perfect Video Editing
Filmmaker deepbluewhale used AI video editing tools to automatically sync video cuts with music beats, reducing the time needed for editing projects.
Your Turn:
Sample Prompt: "Edit this video to match the beats of the background music, removing any awkward pauses or unnecessary footage."
16. Speech-to-Text for Fast Podcast Production
Podcaster birdbrainsoup used AI transcription tools like Otter.ai or Rev to transcribe podcast episodes into text, speeding up the editing and publishing process.
Your Turn:
Sample Prompt: "Transcribe this podcast episode into text and summarize the main talking points for the show notes."
17. Real-Time Collaboration on Music Creation
Musician soundsoftrees used AI music generation tools like Amper Music to collaborate on drum patterns, harmonies, and lyrics, transforming solo sessions into a dynamic experience.
Your Turn:
Sample Prompt: "Generate drum beats, harmonies, and lyrics to accompany this melody based on the chords [insert chords]."
18. Virtual Event Management
User vrobodreams used AI event management tools like Zoom AI Companion to organize virtual events, manage agendas, moderate discussions, and provide real-time feedback to participants.
Your Turn:
Sample Prompt: "Organize a virtual event by setting up the agenda, moderating the discussion, and providing real-time feedback during the event."
19. Automating Tedious Research for Complex Topics
brainwavejam used ChatGPT to summarize and compare key findings from multiple research papers, speeding up their research process for scientific topics.
Your Turn:
Sample Prompt: "Summarize the key findings of these five research papers on [topic] and provide a comparison of any conflicting results."
20. Creating Custom Chatbots for Customer Service
Business owner shopcat424 used tools like ChatGPT or Dialogflow to create a custom chatbot for handling customer inquiries, tracking orders, and processing returns, freeing up valuable time.
Your Turn:
Sample Prompt: "Create a chatbot for my online store that can answer product questions, track orders, and assist with returns."
AI’s Beauty Lies in Its Versatility
As you’ve seen, people are using it in ways that go beyond simple emails and social media posts.
Whether you’re fixing a machine part with just a picture, creating custom chatbots for your business, or generating real-time weather forecasts, AI is opening doors to creative solutions that we never thought possible.
But here’s the thing—this is just the tip of the iceberg.
We all have blind spots and get stuck in our routines. That’s why it’s crucial to step back, learn from others, and yes, steal their ideas. The more we share our experiences and learn from each other, the more we can push AI’s boundaries.
So, what have you done with AI lately? Tried something new?
Maybe you have a fresh use-case to share that could inspire someone else. Don’t keep it to yourself—leave a comment, share your ideas, and let’s keep the conversation going. After all, the best innovations come from collaboration.
Let’s learn together. Let’s steal some ideas and make them our own.