AI productivity tools you didn't know you needed

You’ve likely heard of AI or Artificial Intelligence in the news or across social media, with some people talking about how AI can be a danger. As with all new technologies, someone will find creative ways to use them maliciously. However, there are also beneficial and productive ways to leverage AI at home and for your business.

Be careful about what information you enter into any AI tool, and try to strip out any sensitive or personal information irrelevant to your request. Not all AI developers can be trusted, so read any privacy or data handling information in the terms and conditions before you proceed. If unsure, consult your IT or management team before using any new service.

Goblin Tools

Goblin Tools is a website and iOS or Android mobile app designed with neurodivergent folks in mind that has a handful of options to help keep your tasks flowing smoothly.

Need to break down a project into smaller chunks? Try the Magic ToDo list. Pop in your task, adjust your “spice” level using the chilli button to tell the goblin how many chunks to break the task into and tap the + add button. Goblin Tools will split your project into easily achievable tasks you can tick off, and before you know it, you’ll have them all done!

Maybe you’d like to clean up your strongly worded email to your boss or colleagues so it’s more professional. Try the Formalizer. Type what you want to say into the top box as rudely as you like, and let the goblin be your mediator. Your strongly worded email suddenly becomes polite and formal while still conveying the importance and urgency of any situation.

Perhaps you’re looking for tasty lunch ideas? Try “The Chef”. Enter the available ingredients and any dietary requirements, and watch as the goblin goes to work to give you a delicious recipe.

There are many ways to use Goblin Tools to streamline your day and knock an extra thing off your to-do list in style!

Grammarly

Another great AI tool is Grammarly. While a free version is available (with some limitations), the premium version has a powerful toolset to help ensure all communication is polite, professional and tailored to your audience.

So, what does Grammarly do? Grammarly is an AI-powered spelling and grammar checker that offers handy suggestions to improve the tone or how to get the first sentence started because, sometimes, getting the first words down can be challenging. Fun fact: This blog post was written and checked with the help of Grammarly! Grammarly isn’t just your average spelling & grammar checker, though, as it has some unique tricks up its digital sleeves.

Are you unsure if a word should be hyphenated, joined or split apart? Grammarly will catch commonly confused words such as “workflow” or “Their, they’re, and there”.

Grammarly can also guide you in adjusting the formality and tone of your writing to capture your target audience best with profession-based suggestions. If you work in Finance, Grammarly can adapt the language to fit your preferences and role. Shrink those long, waffled sentences with helpful suggestions to improve clarity to ensure your words are clear and concise.

Grammarly is also about being inclusive and can suggest ways to ensure everyone feels welcome and appreciated. It’s always good to feel we’re all working together. The best part is that Grammarly is available everywhere you are, whether it’s on your laptop, PC or even on your phone with the iOS and Android apps. If you’d like to try Grammarly Premium for free for a month, we have a handy referral link just for you!

Grammarly could be the persuasive helper that closes that next business deal, sets up the perfect night out with friends, or avoids a viral spelling mistake on your company social media!

Chatbots

Another tool you’ve likely heard of is ChatGPT, among other intelligent chatbots that can help answer questions and even write code if you’re into that! However, the free version of ChatGPT has limited knowledge and stops around September 9^th, 2021, so it may not work well if you’re looking for the most up-to-date information. ChatGPT also offers a paid option extending its capabilities and knowledge until April 2024.

More and more companies are focusing on developing their AI helpers, such as Leo by Brave, Bard by Google, and Copilot by Microsoft. Even everyday searches are being enhanced and powered by AI to get your questions answered faster and more concisely.

Chatbots use an instant messaging style to converse back and forth to refine your request and quickly reach the answer or result. Whether it’s asking, “Who is the wealthiest person in the world?”, seeking help with a project, or researching a hobby,

Searching with Leo by Brave is fantastic, as a neat summary is right at the top of the search without having to scroll and read multiple websites to piece the details together. The sources used for the summary are also cited, so you can always fact-check, and it’s highly recommended to check any response from an AI and report it, as they’re not 100% accurate.

Each tool has strengths and weaknesses; choosing one may also depend on your preferences. If you use Google more than Microsoft, you may find that Bard fits better than Copilot. Also check out Mage Space or Midjourney for more creative tools and create stunning digital artwork!

Obsidian (Honourable Mention)

Obsidian Notes, commonly called Obsidian, is the honourable mention as it’s not an AI tool. However, it has AI plug-ins to enhance an already powerful app. It’s free but lacks the synchronisation of notes, a paid add-on, but you can use other sync options such as Dropbox or Microsoft OneDrive. However, taking your notes on the go is absolutely worth the cost!

Obsidian is a desktop and mobile app (iOS and Android) which allows the creation of beautiful notes that perfectly fit your notetaking style and adapt to how your brain works best. There are far too many features to list in a single blog post, so we’ll cover the basics here.

First and foremost, Obsidian is a notes app with all the standard options available, including headings, lists, tables, text formatting, and embedding files (such as PDFs, images, and audio). If you’re familiar with “Markdown” as a notetaking language, you’ll be right at home but don’t fear if you’ve never heard of Markdown before, as there are plenty of help pages and guides to get you started.

The real power of the Obsidian lies in the way notes connect.

Links can be added by typing a double square bracket [[ where you want the link to go then type the name of another note you have in Obsidian to link it. Clicking this link will take you to the other note quickly.

Links also appear in Obsidian’s unique “Graph View”, where they are connected to help visualise your thoughts and how they connect. Here is where you’ll also find a powerful search to filter, colour code, and organise your notes into groups.

If you need to brainstorm ideas, there’s a blank Canvas. Maybe you’re researching a hobby or interest, coming up with the next big business idea, or need to create a flow chart for various processes. Canvas is where it all comes together and still features everything mentioned before, linking to other notes or canvas’, colour coding, and connecting it with a few clicks.

Obsidian also allows publishing and taking private notes public. For example, you could publish a wiki, knowledge base, documentation, or a digital garden full of beautiful ideas to spark collaboration.

Suppose all else fails, and you can’t find what you need already built into Obsidian. In that case, thousands of extra plug-ins can do amazing things, from Kanban boards to ChatGPT integration and other AI tools that accelerate your workflow.

Summary

It’s a bit of a longer blog post than usual. Still, hopefully you walk away with a better idea of leveraging artificial intelligence for yourself, a colleague, a family member, or a neurodivergent friend. Maybe it’s given you a creative spark to explore and try them out; you may discover another tool not mentioned here that boosts your productive power!

Remember only to share the information the AI needs to respond accurately and keep sensitive information private. The specific details can always be added later or tweaked after the AI has reacted.

Go forth and enjoy your new AI-filled adventure!