It's ok to dislike some AI: How to avoid tool paralysis

The fastest, the smartest, the most capable.

The media and AI companies love playing comparison games. And while I like to read about new records being set in benchmarks and contexts, the reality is:

This information is useless

“Ok, so if you just rubbished a tangible way to measure AI tools, how do I decide which option is the best for me?”

Short answer - good old fashioned human decision-making.

Trust Your Experience, Not the Headlines

The AI tool that works best for you isn't necessarily the one with the highest MMLU score or the most parameters. It’s not the ones that get banned or appear in your Twitter feed.

It's the one that consistently delivers what you need in your unique line of work.

Would you choose a car based solely on its top speed? Or would you consider how it handles your daily commute, cargo needs, and driving style? AI tools deserve the same practical consideration along with the occasional axe swing to sort the good from the bad.

Taking AI for a test drive

Instead of getting lost in comparison charts, give a few tools a real test with your actual work:

1. Start with your frequent tasks - Where will AI will add the most value for you? Writing assistance? Data analysis? Creative ideas?

2. Test with real examples - Try the same prompts across different tools. Most of them offer free tiers so there is nothing to lose.

3. Notice what feels right - Which responses require less editing? Which interface feels right? Which output do you just like better?

A Starting Point Guide

If you're not sure where to begin, here are a few starting points for common work needs:

Text Generation & Writing

• Content, email, and general text: Try Claude or ChatGPT - they are very different in their approach and you will start to form preferences on their output

• Reserach: Try Perplexity

• For specialized writing: Look at tools like Jasper

Image Creation

• For realistic images: Midjourney (more difficult to set up) or ChatGPT

• For quick edits: Canva AI or Adobe Firefly

Audio, voice, and video

• For voiceovers: ElevenLabs or Play.ht

• For music creation: Suno (a very cool tool for non-work purposes too)

• For video editing: Descript

• For video creation: Kling.ai

Data Analysis

• For spreadsheets: Co-pilot tools in Excel or Google Sheets

• For visualization: Tableau with AI features

• For coding assistance: GitHub Copilot or Claude's code capabilities

Remember, the "best" AI isn't universal—it's personal. Your needs, preferences and workflows matter more than any benchmark score.

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FACTS TO IMPRESS PEOPLE AT PARTIES

The GPT in ChatGPT stands for "Generative Pre-trained Transformer". What this means is that it's a type of AI system designed to generate human-like text after being trained on vast amounts of data.

The "generative" part means it creates new content, "pre-trained" indicates it learned from existing text before being fine-tuned, and "transformer" refers to the specific neural network architecture that helps it understand context and relationships between words enabling the “transformation” of your prompt into a solid output.

I know that’s a lot to digest but I believe in you.

Go get ‘em.