The Best Way to Use AI for…Financial Planning, Starting a Hobby—and More
Most people are still just tinkering with ChatGPT and other generative AI tools. It’s time to dive in.
illustrations by Zohar LazarIt’s early days in the era of generative artificial intelligence—early enough that most people are still figuring out what it’s good for and how to use it.
So the time seems right for a guide to how to best use AI for all sorts of activities, whether it’s making a financial plan, discovering healthier recipes, personalizing a financial plan and more.
Redecorate a room
Just thinking about redecorating can be overwhelming.
AI tools can help you brainstorm and get started.
On platforms like ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot, you can upload a photo of your room and enter a prompt describing what you want to see— “Show me this room with navy-blue walls and light wood furniture,” or, “Make this office look like a nursery.”
You can also make tweaks by asking follow-up questions like, “What if the walls were lighter?”
With all of these programs, the image-generation process can be slow, and the back-and-forth can be frustrating.
But just by uploading photos of wallpaper, fabric or furniture, you can see how they might look in your space.
Or describe your room to the AI and trade ideas with the program until you land on the right look.
“There’s really no way that a homeowner could feasibly decorate a house using only AI, but it is a great place to get ideas,” says Jenna Gaidusek, a 37-year-old interior designer in Charleston, S.C.
More-specialized tools exist, like Remodel Ai or Canva AI, that also generate images.
But the more-mainstream AIs are better at taking complex requests.
A few other caveats: AI might recommend specific materials such as paint colors, but it also is capable of suggesting materials that are hard to obtain or that may not exist.
In one test, ChatGPT suggested using a “velvet limewashed plaster.”
It also might not be up-to-date with trends.
“You’re going to find a lot of older trends in there, like modern farmhouse,” Gaidusek says.
“The AI is always one or two years behind on what’s new.”
—Ben Raab
Plan a workout
Fitness advice online can be hit or miss, especially if you are trying to build a personal exercise routine.
AI can offer a more-personalized experience, but it still might fall short of a personal trainer.
“It can make recommendations based on your age, sex, what your goals are,” says Jo Clubb, a 37-year-old sports-science consultant in Britain who has worked with professional sports teams including the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and the Chelsea Football Club.
For example, say you’re trying to build a beginner-strength routine using just body weight and resistance bands.
An AI tool can suggest a plan tailored to your fitness level, how often you want to work out and what kind of exercises you enjoy.
You can also take a conversational approach and interact with an AI, Clubb says.
For example, it might tell you what sneakers offer good ankle support for treadmill running.
While you can’t upload a video or receive real-time feedback on the workout itself, you can ask questions like, “How can I do this exercise so I feel it more in my core?”
“It doesn’t have the same expertise of a PT who can watch you and correct your form,” Clubb says.
That also means users should be cautious about injury.
But the AI can link to videos or images showing proper form for the exercises it recommends.
And if you share details like past injuries, current activity level or recent workout data, it can adjust the plan accordingly, though it is no substitute for guidance from a professional.
—Ben Raab
Craft a financial plan
A recent Finra Foundation survey found 20% of U.S. adults are interested in obtaining financial advice from AI.
But getting good advice comes with caveats.
AI chatbots can provide broad financial plans based on your age and financial goals, says Andrew Lo, a professor of finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Such plans might suggest appropriate types of investments and budgets, for example.
From there, users can ask for more-tailored information, or explanations.
The ability to have back-and-forth exchanges is really valuable, Lo says.
Provide just enough information to get relevant answers.
And leave out highly personal details like your name, address, salary, employer or specific assets, says Lo, who argues that such details put people at risk should the AI be compromised.
What might be safe for a young professional to say is that she is in her 20s, with a good job, not worried about medical expenses and she wants to save for a home.
Also, he doesn’t recommend asking “large language models” (such as ChatGPT) to do calculations.
There’s a chance it will come up with wrong numbers, he says.
There can be variance in the advice given, too.
So, Lo recommends trying several AI platforms.
And, he says, the advice should be run by a professional, trusted family or friends.
Be a bit skeptical and double-check with humans, says Lo.
—Cheryl Winokur Munk
Learn a difficult concept
AI offers the ability to dive into fields we never thought we’d learn—as long as you watch out for hallucinations and proceed step by step.
First, whether it is French existentialism or principles of building, ask the AI for a big-picture overview: Tell it that it is delivering a first-year university lecture, or explaining the idea to a 10th-grader.
Ask it to tell you the major terms in the field, summarize key findings and describe areas of uncertainty and disagreement.
Once you’ve grasped that overview, do your own research: Look for peer-reviewed articles that have plenty of citations (100 or more is ideal; 20 or 30 is all right for niche topics).
Give the articles to the AI and ask it to synthesize the findings.
If you learn better out loud, use Claude or ChatGPT’s audio interface to talk to the AI about each article and ask questions.
You can also upload a collection to Google’s NotebookLM, and ask it to generate a podcast on the subject, based on the articles.
If you’re just curious about something, that may be good enough.
But if you’re planning to put this new knowledge to work—say to build something, like a children’s treehouse—triple-check the AI’s work.
Ask more than one AI to summarize each article at college level, paralleling the structure of the original article. Read these summaries, then skim the original sources with your own eyes, to make sure the AI’s summary is accurate.
—Alexandra Samuel
Start a hobby
AI has joined how-to videos and community-center classes as a path to picking up a new hobby, whether it is archery, songwriting, woodworking or geocaching.
Can’t think of a hobby that is right for you?
Tell the AI to play life coach or occupational therapist and suggest five ways of finding a new hobby.
Tell the AI which one to use, and instruct it to ask you questions until it has enough intel to suggest hobbies you might like.
Once you’ve picked your new hobby, ask for a list of potential starting points.
Let’s say you want to try crochet: Ask for a range of suitable patterns and video tutorials for beginners.
Enter any crocheting instructions you have (possibly the transcript of the video lesson) and ask the AI to make a shopping list of the specific yarn, hooks or other materials you need.
Then treat the AI as your project tutor.
Ask it to tell you where people run into trouble with this pattern, or as new crocheters, and how to avoid the same mistakes.
If you run into trouble, take a photo of your work in progress, and ask the AI to identify your mistake and how to fix it.
Another possible hobby where AI can help: songwriting.
A generative AI platform can take your lyrics and fit them to a catchy tune.
Get a crash course in fundamentals, and ask for best practices in writing lyrics that an AI will be able to set to music.
The AI can explain when technical constraints are affecting your songs, and coach you until your heart sings.
Whatever hobby you choose, after giving it a try, tell the AI what you enjoyed, and where you got frustrated.
Ask for a next step that reflects your experience—so that you enjoy your next project even more.
—Alexandra Samuel
Be your health co-pilot
Generative AI offers “incredible potential” to improve access to quality health information, says John Ayers, head of AI at the Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute at the University of California, San Diego.
Ayers conducted a study showing that, in lower-risk scenarios, such as in drafting responses to patient questions, ChatGPT gave responses that were several times more likely to be judged as good or very good compared with the responses of physicians on a widely used web bulletin board.
AI, he says, can serve as a helpful “first pass.”
(The Altman institute is unrelated to Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, which created the generative AI program ChatGPT.)
Think of it as a research assistant.
Used wisely, AI can help summarize medical articles or clinical guidelines, offer basic first-aid tips, help patients pose smarter questions to their doctors and provide general health education from trusted resources.
(Just make sure the AI is providing its sources and that they, too, are reliable.)
“You can ask ChatGPT to simplify what your doctor said, or to explain lab results, to help you understand physical therapy exercises or even methods of quitting smoking,” says Ayers.
Just don’t use it to replace the doctor’s ability to diagnose or suggest treatment.
AI is “not a substitute for clinical judgment,” he says.
“It can’t examine you, order tests or monitor your condition over time,” Ayers says.
Furthermore, its tone may be confident even when it is wrong, and it may not reflect the latest research.
“Crucially, it lacks context about your personal medical history,” he adds.
—Heidi Mitchell
Build a new wardrobe
Whether you’re curating a whole new closet or just trying to find breathable shirts that won’t show sweat in a city summer, AI can help streamline the process, if you know how to use it.
The key is knowing how to prompt the tool, says Caroline Reppert, director of AI and Technology policy at the National Retail Federation, a trade organization.
Broad questions will generate vague results, but tailored inquiries can act like a personal stylist.
Reppert suggests specifics like, “Show me linen-blend dresses under $150 in neutral colors, size 8, that work in hot, humid weather.”
AI excels, she continues, when you want to sort by fabric, price point or even values like sustainability.
While some AI platforms (like Style DNA or Perplexity’s AI shopping assistant) work independently of retailers, others are being embedded into major retailers’ apps to improve suggestions.
That can be helpful to some, limiting to others; think of Spotify’s recommendation engine and apply that to your wardrobe.
It can be hit or miss.
—Heidi Mitchell
Improve your trip planning
Planning a vacation can often feel like a second job: tracking flight prices, managing browser tabs, endless scrolls through review sites.
AI is still imperfect, but with the right prompts Generative AI can lighten that load and reveal fresh ideas you would never find on page one of the paid ads and SEO results on Google.
Think: un-touristy towns, under-the-radar museums and quaint, family-run restaurants.
Tell it your destination, travel dates, must-sees, interests, budget, transportation preferences and constraints and it might serve up a nice itinerary in the format of your choosing.
A vague “three-day Berkshires itinerary” will get you a generic list, but ask, “Plan a three-day road trip from New York City to the Berkshires, with mountain hikes, midrange lodging, local breweries and live music,” and you’ll get a detailed, day-by-day itinerary with estimated drive times, activity suggestions and even packing tips.
It can be particularly useful if you’re not very knowledgeable about a place already, says Nathan Lump, senior vice president and editor in chief of National Geographic.
“So perhaps you use it to identify the top sights not to miss and the order in which you could see them over the amount of time you have, and you can then build out from there and refine through more hands-on research of your own,” Lump says.
Travelers should always confirm opening hours, prices and availability.
“There is a lot of travel information out there that is old or inaccurate,” Lump warns.
—Heidi Mitchell
Find a job
Generative AI tools are rapidly becoming career assistants, finding job opportunities and offering advice on how to land them.
Be specific from the start, says Jennifer Bobrow Burns, managing director of Executive MBA and Alumni Career Development at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business.
Upload your résumé (with name, address and other identifying information removed), then tell the AI what your passions and talents are.
Based on that, ask it to come up with job titles that match your experience, skills and interests.
“This is especially useful for people making career pivots, since the AI can help you think about your transferrable skills,” Bobrow Burns notes.
“Though you’ll need to validate the results by talking to real people in the field.”
To help tailor a résumé for a specific job, paste in the job posting and a bullet point from your résumé, then ask the AI to make the bullet point more relevant, Bobrow Burns says.
Lots of people enter the job description and ask the AI to write an enticing cover letter, “but it will read very generic,” she cautions.
Instead, let the AI structure a cover letter, then you enhance it with some personality, anecdotes and details about the company and job.
When you’re ready to interview, tell the AI about your degrees, past roles, accomplishments, motivations and personality, then ask it to play a recruiter, hiring manager or senior leader and tell you what each one of them wants to know.
Ask it to structure your interview questions and potential responses based on a challenge-action-result framework.
“Just don’t memorize those answers verbatim,” Bobrow Burns says.
“Personalization is key.”
—Heidi Mitchell
Plan creative landscaping
Landscaping is a mix of science and art.
Generative AI can help with both.
You can start by uploading a photo of your lawn and asking the AI what it would look like if landscaped in popular styles, such as Victorian or American prairie.
Or just ask it to add specific features, like a hedge for privacy or a vegetable, rain or pollinator garden.
Have it tailor its suggestions based on the climate where you live and your desired maintenance requirements.
And be sure to double-check whether the plants it chooses are right for your climate and compatible with each other, says Chris Enroth, a horticulture educator at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s extension program.
Ask the AI how much daylight, shade, water and what soil type each plant needs, and when to cut shrubs or transplant flowers.
An AI can also help you fight an insect infestations or diagnose a diseased plant.
With more technical or science-based questions, limit the AI’s search to academic or government sources, Enroth says.
This can help prevent the tool from finding information based on marketing material.
Specialized AI tools exist, like iNaturalist, that can help distinguish between weeds and other types of plants.
Images uploaded to or found in the databases of such tools are often verified by botanists.
—Lisa Ward
Fix your car
Generative AI is good at diagnosing car problems, says Scotty Kilmer, a mechanic with a do-it-yourself car-repair show on YouTube.
Is the battery dead or the alternator broken?
AI can provide different tests to help figure out the answer, says Kilmer.
AI can also use visual indicators that show something could be amiss, such as a dark stain on the driveway under the car.
You just need to upload an image of the stain to a generative AI platform.
Be sure to give it such basic information as the brand, model and year of your car, and total mileage, for both queries.
It is less effective at diagnosing sounds, Kilmer says, or at identifying what is wrong with the complex systems in a car, like its computers.
But it does make it easier to find instructions for basic repairs, like fixing a tire or changing the windshield wipers.
Some AI platforms will produce wiring diagrams for many types of cars, making it easier to diagnose and fix a light or a blown fuse.
If you decide a mechanic is necessary, AI can also help vet a repair estimate.
Ask it what is the fair price for doing a specific service, like changing a fan belt, and how long it should take.
It is important to double check the source of the AI’s answers: Marketing and sales material can sometimes creep into responses.
Newer AI tools, like MechAI, can cull the useful material from reliable sources and don’t just spit back everything that is on the internet.
—Lisa Ward
Prepare healthier meals
AI can be a big help in the kitchen, particularly for preparing healthier meals.
Ask it about a meal you want to prepare and it can give you a basic breakdown of the calories, protein, fiber, saturated fat and sodium.
Tell it the exact measurements you are using, if possible, and the ingredient brands.
If it doesn’t know the specific brand, the AI’s breakdown of the nutritional content will reflect a general range, not absolute numbers, says Liz Weiss, a registered dietitian nutritionist.
When there is no brand, ask the AI to pull its information from a well-known nutritional database, like the Agriculture Department’s FoodData Central.
Thinking beyond single meals, AI can be helpful generating weekly menus and shopping lists, again with a focus on health and efficiency.
Ask it for a five-day meal plan that incorporates a specific number of daily calories or specific desired nutrients.
You could also tell it to focus on food that is currently in your pantry, Weiss says.
If you want a special diet to achieve a specific goal, tell it what the goal is, and include your weight, gender and exercise routine, be it weight lifting or training for a marathon.
You can also tell it to stick to certain cuisines, like Mediterranean food, or to list only recipes with five-star reviews that are likely to generate leftovers, she adds.
—Lisa Ward
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