AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

AI agents are poised to revolutionize how we interact with technology. Imagine AI as a helpful assistant, integrated into apps and features, that proactively aids us in work, school, and daily life. These "agentic AI" are designed to be autonomous, making decisions to achieve specific goals without constant human input. Apple users with devices supporting Apple Intelligence will get a taste of this with the iOS 18.4 update, which promises a significantly enhanced Siri. This updated Siri will represent an early step towards agentic AI.

Last Week was a busy week in terms of AI news due to Deepseek. Since last Monday, January 27th,  the AI landscape has changed quite a lot. Still life goes on and I do what I have to, including the use of AI chats. Before I get into that below, I am concerned with the interaction between the new administration and tech companies which could result in AI models and services that do a disservice to users. Let me just leave it at that for now.  I used ChatGPT to see what answers it has about Deepseek. I away very interested in trying to see if OpenAI’s true thoughts about it somehow came across. I even pointed out that Deepseek distilled using ChatGPT. I got nothing new. I basically suggest to ChatGPT that is should be upset. It was not - it did have concerns but then it also praised Deepseek on its overall achievements.  I also asked Gemini what it thought about Deepseek and the possibility that it used ChatGPT for distillations and not Gemini. Gemini said it was a matter of...

I am in the market for a new iPad but I have not quite gotten myself to pull the trigger on a new one because I simply have not decided what my workflow will be like. Simply put, I am still fine with my 2019 iPad mini though I do need something bigger when I eventually upgrade. So, I have been thinking long and hard about my workflow and, naturally, became a bit nostalgic to the day when I first got my original iPad.  If you compare the original iPad to today’s iPads, it is natural to note how far we have come since 2010. In many ways, too many to mention here, we have come a long way. I definitely could not have used the original iPad as a laptop replacement as many have done today. One thing that the original iPad had that many of today’s iPads do not have is its simplicity - its ability to offer a distraction free environment.  Personally, this is an important element of all of my workflows. In the early days, it was easy to stay focused on what you were doing on the iPad b...

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...

I like my Apple Watch but I am waiting for Apple to go beyond health and one area where the Apple Watch can be of great benefit to users is to help us keep track of habits and routines. And this is one area where I believe Apple Intellgience can really shine because I do not know if another AI or AI-powered app already help users develop habits and become more productive and healthy but it would be great if one is natively developed by Apple. The watch’s sensors such as the one that monitors heart rate is terrific and has helped countless millions. It is especially useful during workouts and professional athletes. But I'm not an athlete. I do jog and workout. I monitor the number of steps I take through the day. I occasionally use the Breath app. I want to be more engaged with my Apple Watch for other purposes. And this is where a streaks and habits app would come into play. As for "play", gamifying streaks and habit development could be fun element to the app without bei...

I am quite comfortable now using generative AI to help me with writing emails. I do not think it knows me well enough to learn what I really want to convey. It is likely taking a lot of sources from other users and combining them to anticipate what a proper email should sound like. And yes, only proper well worded emails. I once asked AI to help me write an email that also convey how little I think of the recipient but it warned me that I should be professional and continued to give me a email that was rather professionally worded (I changed it to give a small hint that I think the recipient was a jerk. A small one that I doubt really drew any attention but it made me feel good nonetheless.) I have also changed how I write my emails based on what AI has suggested in the past few weeks. So there is that. Here are other uses and my thoughts on how I feel about them this week. So far, I have keep to using ChatGPT, Pilot, Claude, and Gemini. I used ChatGPT to help me suggest a birthday gif...

I used generative AI this week to find the dimensions of a refrigerator based on the model number. I googled first because of muscle memory but when I could not find what I was looking for immediately  and was given the dimensions of another refrigerator with a similar model number after going through a couple of the first links from Google results..After checking with ChatGPT and Google's Gemini, I quickly found the correct size with AI chats while the search result was wrong.  I always have my AI chat app or tab in the browser at the ready. I can see myself going to AI for answers more and more as the first option.  The point is that I have become accustomed to using AI to quickly look for answers and when needed, confirm the results with another AI or search on the Internet. It is a process. And every day, more and more people are actively engaging with AI in their personal and professional lives. In the last two months, I can safely say that I have used AI at least on...