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How I'm using AI in May 2023

This article is part of a series titled How I Use AI. You can read the other items in there series here:

  1. How I'm using AI in May 2023
  2. How I'm Using AI in June 2023
  3. How I'm using AI in July 2023
  4. How I'm using AI in August & September 2023
  5. How I'm using AI in October 2023
  6. How I'm using AI in November 2023

As of May 2023, I use the following AI-powered products on at least a weekly basis:

  • GitHub Copilot ⭐
    • Writing code: typically this is autocomplete to the end of the line, but occasionally it generates small blocks of code. Rarely I use it to generate a Regex for a particular pattern, saving me a search, copy, and paste from StackOverflow.
  • ChatGPT
    • Conversations: the best for prompt engineering, it runs with a persona that you give it. I’ve found rubber-duck sessions with a “helpful coworker who asks insightful questions” to be really helpful.
    • Generating structured code: creates a list of ten objects that match a given structure.
    • Document drafting: I needed to write a charter for a church building committee and had no clue where to start. A few prompts to ChatGPT, and I had an outline and draft to follow.
  • Bing
    • Internet searches: if I have a question that would typically require more than one search, then I’ll ask Bing. It does a good job of answering with citations.
    • Summarizing content: given a URL, Bing does a good job of summarizing content from a web page. You can even ask for comprehension questions if you’re reading to learn.
  • Bard 📈
    • Coding questions: Bard gives the right balance of length and depth for questions I have about programming. It usually includes helpful code snippets.
  • Warp
    • Command suggestions: saves a lot of time searching for those common commands that you can never seem to remember, e.g. “how to undo the last commit?”

As of May 2023, I have access to but no interest in the following products:

  • Midjourney/Dall·E/Bing Images: I’ve seen some of the things they generate, and while some of it is cool none of it feels useful to me.
  • Notion: I don’t need an AI to write content for me.