There has been much discussion and chatter lately about Artificial Intelligence (AI), how it will evolve and what it will be used for in the future, but the reality is that most of us already use it every day. AI is powerful; it automates routine tasks and allows humans to use our strategic mental capabilities for more important things.

Here are several ways you already use AI and probably don’t even know it!

Personal Assistants

Most of us use Siri, Google Assistant or Alexa, which are AI-powered personal assistants, daily. They perform numerous tasks, including finding driving directions, placing hands-free calls, setting reminders, sending text messages, playing music and controlling smart home devices. One great thing about AI Personal Assistants is that they are available 24/7 and never moody.

Apple’s voice-enabled virtual assistant, Siri, uses AI, voice queries and natural-language processing to answer questions, perform tasks and make recommendations.

Alexa by Amazon includes a generative AI model that is supposed to give the virtual assistant more personality and the ability to adjust its tone and response to express human emotions like excitement or surprise. (Let’s hope Alexa doesn’t get moody!)

Google Assistant is touted as your own personal Google. You can ask it questions and tell it to do things.

Write, Type, Send

How many emails do you send a day? I send quite a few. If you use any of the Microsoft suite of services, especially Word or Outlook, then you are familiar with Microsoft Predictive Text. This AI-powered tool completes the word you are typing, corrects grammar, and allows you to work faster and be more focused.

Another tool I love is Grammarly. This AI tool reviews content for spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity and more. Best of all, it suggests how to fix the mistakes it finds. It can also identify plagiarism, but I’m not sure it can identify text written by an AI versus a human.

Social Media

AI is deployed on social media sites to enhance user experience and make it more relevant to the individual – i.e. personalization. AI personalizes what a user sees on social media by looking at user preferences and behavior, then customizes and suggests content for that particular use. Meta (Facebook, Instagram and Threads) uses AI to predict the content that is the most valuable to a user and shows it to them sooner. For example, sharing a post typically means that you found that post to be valuable, so Meta uses this as one factor of what to show you first. AI is used on social media to make friends or connections suggestions, choose the Reels to show to you, and much more. 

Chatbots & Virtual Assistants

Many home builders already use chatbots on their websites to improve the customer journey by providing 24/7 support and answers to homebuyers’ questions. Over time, we will see these chatbots morph into powerful AI-powered virtual assistants to elevate the buying experience.

Cars & Driving

Self-driving automobiles rely on AI to provide feedback on what’s around them. These vehicles utilize sensors to understand the environment, provide directions, and make judgments while driving. Over time, this technology is predicted to result in fewer wrecks, fewer traffic jams and reduced pollution.

That GPS system you can’t get anywhere without? Yep, that’s artificial intelligence, too. Google Maps, Apple Maps, and GPS directional services rely on AI to monitor traffic and provide real-time traffic information, helping you navigate around wrecks and avoid speed traps. Some of these travel apps now incorporate weather as well.

Smart Home Devices

Homes are becoming smarter as more artificial intelligence is incorporated into them. Most smart home devices can be controlled via voice command or from a smartphone. I have a Litter Robot (best purchase ever) with a fantastic app. Smart thermostats, lighting, security, and vacuums like Roomba are more common in most homes. All of these smart products use AI to learn user preferences and adjust settings. And they will get better and better over time. Meet George Jetson!

Our recent blog, How to AI Now, has more hands-on news for the homebuilding industry.