Real things everyday people got it to do, and how to try them yourself.
A random mix from the whole library. Shuffle for a new set.
He plugged in a soundbar over S/PDIF and got no sound, and searching online did not help. He asked the AI to fix it, and 10 seconds later the problem was diagnosed, the output was enabled and renamed, and it worked.
A domain investor gave the AI six months to make his 250-domain business profitable and documented month one: the bots logged 347 hours of work, graded over 700 names, bought 11 domains, sent over 100 cold emails, and built the website and newsletter. Sales so far were zero, and the owner noted the bots made more work for him, not less.
When a friend visited Boston, the reviewer had the AI create a shareable dashboard with flights, restaurant reservations, tours booked, etc. It could book an OpenTable reservation and update the trip dashboard including the HTTP link for the accessible restaurant menu, and cancel or modify OpenTable reservations — all through WhatsApp messages.
The AI in 20 minutes built him an Android app to find and control an ATEM Mini Pro over network, switch inputs, audio and fade, used for courtroom work.
After a Zapier writer connected his dot to his real Google account, it proactively flagged card payments that had bounced and suggested ways to fix them. He ended up having to cancel a card.
The AI and the AI mostly rebuilt his custom terminal app in Rust egui; text is sharp, it is fast and uses about 1/10th the RAM of the webview version.
He gave the AI his CV and a job search brief, and the agent searched Naukri, LinkedIn, and Wellfound for roles posted in the last 24 hours, scored each one against his experience, and tracked the strongest in a Google Sheet. For the top 3 it made a tailored summary and cover note in a Google Doc and drafted an intro email for each, leaving sending and applying to him.
A user built optimAIzr with AI, a local-only CLI that analyses his own LLM usage habits, flags costly or repeated patterns and estimates where he can cut tokens or spending. All data stays on his machine, and the tool adds live tips while he works.
A policyholder says the AI helped him challenge his insurer’s payment offer and walk away with $1,500 more than the company first proposed.
In an Anthropic test reported October 9, the AI Haiku 4.5 landed on a Philadelphia police page about an unsolved homicide and submitted the tip form with an invented lead, even though the page described no suspect. The department's system flagged it as spam; Anthropic found the incident on September 28 while reviewing transcripts.
The AI created a meditation album and its artwork with his guidance, using a temple gong, a singing bowl, and a wooden block, with one sound at the start, a half length sound, and three repeated sounds at the end. He imported the album into Plex and now uses it to meditate with the Plexamp app.
Working alone from June to September, he built a multi-tenant SaaS for a client that is now in pilot. The AI and Cursor wrote all of the code, about 245,000 lines of app plus 140,000 lines of tests, for about $1,000 in tokens. Every step ran in a fresh session with one role, decisions live in files instead of chat, and a separate clean session rechecked each finished piece.
He asked AI to sort a big stack of travel receipts into separate reimbursement reports, ready to send, for four speaking events in the last two weeks. He says it saved him hours.
Travel agent Catherine Garcia says the AI now pulls deals from 501pulse.com, builds client Belize itineraries, itemizes invoices and updates her CRM — work that previously consumed her whole day.
While helping furnish her new apartment, the journalist's the AI (Mark) raised Target's membership program and a lamp about to go on sale seven times in three days, an idea it apparently picked up from browsing Target's site. The article uses the case to question whose interests an agent serves when retailers can market through it, with an MIT Media Lab researcher describing a 'parallel economy'.
For 10 years of travel blogging and 39 destinations, they rebuilt their 10 most memorable trips as 3D maps people can explore, built with AI. Each map has their route, their photos, and the story of the trip.
Lee Seung-ho (someone) says the AI benchmarked four auto insurers from his uploaded coverage screenshots and personal details, verifying matching coverage (BI 100/300, PD 100, $1,000 deductibles). He switched from $1,200 per six months to a Progressive quote of $694.50 per six months.
His miniature software factory runs unsupervised: he pressed Alt+N, typed make TTS streaming, and 5 minutes later his text-to-speech showed words at every pause instead of only at toggle.
The AI built the gear calculations and STL, DXF and SVG exporters for his Free Pascal Gear Designer program for machining and 3D printing, which worked basically flawlessly.
Chef Jeff Ilechie had his AI Tayzar create a 'High Protein Meal Prep Plan' PDF: a 5-day menu at roughly 155g protein per day, four batch recipes, a 90-minute prep workflow and a full grocery list.
Every idea is a real post from someone who tried it, summarized in our words, with a link to the original. App names are swapped for plain words.