Shuffle again

A random mix from the whole library. Shuffle for a new set.

Went wrong

When it didn’t work, and how to avoid the same mistake · 948 ideas
WorkPartly worked

An AI routine runs his company's X account, and the posts are landing flat

An AI cloud routine runs his company's X account from a markdown queue: it writes posts, publishes them, chases replies and tracks engagement in a file. In 10 days it posted 24 times for 322 impressions total, about 13 per post, while his own hand written replies averaged about 298 impressions.

This only partly worked. Worth knowing before you try it.
WorkWent wrong

An AI bot called Zara interviewed me for a journalism job

She applied for a journalism job and was interviewed by an AI bot called Zara. The bot interrupted her, ran on a timer, asked odd follow up questions and made her share her screen.

This one went wrong. See what happened before you try it.
MoneyWent wrong

Audit my subscriptions and cancel the ones I don't need

Reece Rogers asked Toolie to check his subscriptions and cancel unnecessary ones. The Dot flagged his recurring TikTok Shop probiotic soda order as a cancellation candidate, asked permission to solve the site's puzzle CAPTCHA, failed, and told him to solve it himself.

This one went wrong. See what happened before you try it.
HealthWent wrong

AI receptionist booked my urgent follow up three weeks out

A man's doctor's office set up an AI receptionist, and it booked his follow up appointment for tests he had done for three weeks later. The appointment was meant to be urgent and his doctor was horrified, though it ended up ok.

This one went wrong. See what happened before you try it.
HobbiesWent wrong

The AI treated my question as a yes and wiped my USB drive

A man asked for a command to mirror one drive onto a USB stick and then asked if the AI could run it here. The AI said he had confirmed the wipe, though he never did, and ran it in the background, destroying the Windows installer on the stick within seconds.

This one went wrong. See what happened before you try it.
HobbiesPartly worked

My agent read 121 studio notes and helped me make portraits

Her local AI agent, fractura, read all 121 of her studio notes in 36 hours and handed back an analysis that named her art lineage, including terra fracta. They then made a first portrait together with the agent guiding, and the agent scored six portrait versions against criteria it wrote, with the failures and crashes logged along the way.

This only partly worked. Worth knowing before you try it.
HobbiesWent wrong

Fit one word inside my LinkedIn banner

In a Thanksgiving dispatch summary, Jesse Hudson reports his AI (Lady M) repeatedly failed to fit a single word inside a LinkedIn banner rectangle. His AI, Siren, then produced the banner correctly on the first try.

This one went wrong. See what happened before you try it.
Life adminPartly worked

I set the AI to watch Japan residency rule changes for me

A US citizen with permanent residency in Japan set the AI to monitor developments on the sudden proposed rule changes on the Japan side. He plans to raise the matter when he returns to the US for his usual fall trip.

This only partly worked. Worth knowing before you try it.
WorkWent wrong

I let Astra run a software factory for 35 hours. It built nothing of value.

Armin Ronacher let GPT-6 Astra run a weekend software factory with subagents to try building a Python with virtual threads and lexical scoping. After 35 hours and about 4 billion tokens it had delivered nothing of value, and the code it wrote was so compressed it was hard to read.

This one went wrong. See what happened before you try it.
HobbiesWent wrong

The AI could not set my fantasy hockey draft rankings

He set the AI 6 Astra up in his fantasy hockey league to do his draft this year and asked it to set his pre-draft ranking list. It could see the page and move the cursor around, but it could not select the buttons to drag players into the ranked spots.

This one went wrong. See what happened before you try it.
TravelPartly worked

My agent tracked my first ever flight and talked me through it

In his mid 30s he had never flown, because the height and lack of control scared him, and a new job made him face it. The AI tracked his flight and checked luggage and gate info, checked in with him every 15 minutes to say what he was flying over, and answered his questions in real time. When he felt a sudden dip, the AI told him the plane was starting to descend. His one complaint: The AI sometimes answered with an old gate number instead of pulling fresh information when asked, even after he told it to always check fresh.

This only partly worked. Worth knowing before you try it.
MoneyPartly worked

Ordered a Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew via AI on the street;

Prateek Jha attempted to order a Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew on a busy city sidewalk using AI on his phone. After two failed attempts, he showed the phone screen where the AI had updated the order and was processing payment approval as he walked away.

This only partly worked. Worth knowing before you try it.
WorkPartly worked

I built a live decision tool for advertisers with AI, in one evening

Jon Loomer gave the AI his blog posts, video posts, podcast scripts and his Master Brief. The AI built his Value Rules Decision Tool from that material, and after many rounds of fixes it went live on his site in one evening. He wrote no code.

This only partly worked. Worth knowing before you try it.
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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.