It’s your free personal assistant, and it’s on your digital device. But what can you ask your AI companion?
You don’t need to be super-rich to have a fully staffed household support team. In fact, you already have a personal assistant, sous chef, concierge, researcher and travel planner… all at your fingertips and at your service! AI tools aren’t just here to make your job easier. Now they’re helping out around the house, too.
Here are a few chores you can assign to ChatGPT, Copilot, WhatsApp’s AI assistant, your browser’s build-in AI, or your actual AI browser.
Your AI is your… Sous Chef
If you’re not sure what to cook for dinner, or if you’ve ended up with leftover ingredients and have no clue what to do with them, AI can give you some new recipes to try out.
In the prompt field, tell the AI what you have, and ask it to list some ideas for meals that you can whip together. No point in letting that peanut oil you bought on a whim go to waste!
AI bots can also help you with culinary emergencies. For example, if you’ve accidentally put a tablespoon of salt into your dish instead of a teaspoon, it’ll give you some advice on how to salvage your dinner.
Your AI is your… Personal Shopper
Stuck for gift ideas? No problem. Just whip out your phone and tell your AI buddy what your budget is, and ask it to tell you the best gifts on the market. You’ll end up with a clear (or at least clearer!) vision of what to look for.
Your AI is your… Translator
NGL… We use this all the time. Say you’re having a conversation with someone, and they drop in a word, and you have no idea what it means. Pop it into your AI assistant, and get an instant, no-judgement response. (Sample prompt: “bro whut is inflation?” or “why is SONA important?”)
We’d never recommend hiring Claude or Gemini as your actual lawyer or doctor, but AI can be helpful if you’re going through a complicated legal process (prompt: “what’s the law of delict?”) or getting medical advice (prompt: “What do these lab result terms mean: [list terms from a report]?”), and you’re dealing with a human professional who’s more interested in dropping jargon than actually helping you. AI assistants are often better than a Google search in this regard, because they take the time to explain the term in language you’ll understand, rather than just giving you a link to an advertisement.
Your AI is your… Personal Planner
What’s a good movie to watch tonight? What new restaurants are open in your area? Where can I go on holiday if my budget is R20 000? These are all very good questions, and you’ll get a better, less spammy answer if you ask AI than if you try your luck with Google or Bing.
WhatsApp’s Meta AI is especially good with movie and restaurant recommendations (and the conversations are easy to archive and go back to); while AI browsers are so good at planning holidays, you may have to step in to stop Comet, Atlas or Dia before it sends emails and books hotels on your behalf.
