Friday, January 24, 2025

Using AI To Make Cotton Candy and Other Uses

I am very comfortable with using ChatGPT, Gemini, and other AI now. I still use search engines through my work day - DucDuckGo is my go-to search engine with Google coming in next if I do not find what I want o DuckDuckGo. There is a difference between what I use AI for and what search engines for. 

While both AI and search can provide answers I want, they each serve a role that is more suited for one than the other. AI chats can provide most answers, which do require that I fact-check it. For queries that require fact-checking, I go straight to to the search engines. For others, AI chats are fine. This is especially true when I am looking for basic understanding of things like “which is the first book of the Pdergast series” or how do I find a consultant in Asia who is familiar with Oracle for customization.

So, this is what I have used AI chats for this week:

  • I got a composter for my kitchen. I came across a video on the Internet of someone making cotton candy. So I use Gemini to find out how cotton candies are made and at what temperature. Apparently, my composter does heat up the stuff I put inside it but it is no where near hot enough. And probably not a good idea anyway.
  • I was tasked to find an Oracle consultant in Asia who could help us with customization from time to time. I have no idea where to start so I asked a friend who asked ChatGPT. I did it as well but I thad hoped my software engineer friend might know one or two
  • I started a YouTube channel for my dog. Since my puppy is a lot cuter than I am, I thought I would exploit her cuteness and the forever puppy look. I then asked Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude how I can turn this into a million dollar business. The results were sensible. I will be giving what they suggest a try. Forgetting the money, there are a lot of suggestions like animation that require me to learn new skills. That is what I am most excited about.
  • I asked ChatGPT why my pancakes never come out the same and why my waffles turn out bad half the time. I suspect that heat has something to do with it. And how thick the batter is. And how long I cook it. Turned out that I was right. I just need to keep at it and eventually i will get it right.
  • I wanted to write an app based on suggestions I read recently in books and from YouTube. I asked for suggestions on features that I should include in version 1.0. 
  • I recently read about algorithms that are based on quantum principles that would run on traditional PC because quantum computers are not available yet. I wanted to know if they actually help and run fast enough on traditional CPU. According to Gemini, yes…in theory. Copilot said the same thing but I think my question was not phrased correctly. So I rephrased to “will algorithms based on quantum principles that are written to run on traditional CPU be of any benefit compared to regular algorithms. This time, the answer is no. Is this true? I honestly do not know.
  • I had Copilot rewrite some of my emails and perform translations. I do find AI-based translations better than Google Translate. It is more accurate? When needed, I use AI based translations and Google Translate. The mean from both are pretty much the same though I feel AI results seem easier to understand.
  • Looked for a farm in Los Angeles where I can take our dog to see if she is into bearding. It was a fail with both Copilot and Gemini. I know Copilot is based on ChatGPT but for some reason, ChatGPT gave me the best answer.
  • I searched some literary terms like “knight errant”. Copilot did well enough. 

I continue to use both ChatGPT and Claude on a daily basis to help me develop a YouTube channel I started about two weeks ago for our dog. This weekend, I am considering using one of these AI to help me write a simple app to test how well the Playgrounds app can handle coding on the iPad.

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