'I didn’t know AI could do this' — 10 surprisingly useful ways it saves me time every day

(Image credit: Getty Images)

If you still think of AI as just “a fancy search engine that writes emails,” you’re missing what it can actually do. Over the past year, AI has quietly become one of the most powerful — and practical — ways to boost everyday productivity.

Today’s AI doesn’t just generate text or summarize documents. It can browse the live web, analyze images, organize your files, talk with you in real time, and even “see” your screen. That means it can now handle tasks that once required multiple apps, technical know-how or a lot of tedious manual work. Here are 10 surprising ways AI is becoming a genuinely useful coworker.

1. Clear your “email debt” without typing

AI Overviews in Gmail — (Image credit: Google)

Why it's useful: You can finally tackle that inbox clutter without typing every reply yourself — turning days of manual reading into minutes of AI-assisted action.

Email overload can be overwhelming, but Gmail’s built-in Gemini AI tools can help you clear it faster than ever before. Instead of hunting through all your old messages to find what matters, you can use natural language prompts to summarize threads, extract key points and draft thoughtful replies in one go.

For example, you might open a long chain of back-and-forth messages and ask Gemini:

“Summarize all the emails from Alex about the Q2 launch and draft a polite follow-up that says I’ll have the report by Friday.”

Gemini will read the full thread, pull out the key details and context, and generate a ready-to-edit email draft so you don’t have to manually review every message. That includes understanding things like who said what, what decisions have already been made and what still needs action.

You can also use Gemini to:

Summarize long threads at the top of the conversation with a quick overview card.
Ask follow-up questions in plain English, like “What’s the deadline mentioned here?”
Draft responses or polish existing text inside Gmail.

2. Have AI read things out loud to you

ChatGPT Read Aloud feature — (Image credit: Future)

Move over, Audible or Speechify, ChatGPT’s Read Aloud text-to-speech functionality lets the AI speak text back to you in a natural, human-like voice — essentially turning articles, documents, emails or even ebooks into audio you can listen to.

In ChatGPT you can paste text, upload a file or select any reply and tap Read Aloud. The AI will start narrating it back to you, and you can play, pause or rewind the audio. You can even choose the voice style you prefer.

What you can listen to:

Emails
Articles or research you don’t want to read on screen
Uploaded PDFs or ebooks
Notes you want to hear instead of proofread

Why it's useful: It turns ChatGPT into a lightweight audiobook or listening tool without needing a separate paid app like Speechify or Audible, and keeps you productive even when your eyes are busy — like during a commute, workout or household chores.

3. Edit images without knowing Photoshop

Nano Banana draw to prompt — (Image credit: Future/Amanda Caswell)

Unlike traditional photo editing tools that require you to have some graphic design skills, Nano Banana allows you to create images or edit with a single prompt, you can even draw directly on your photo to tell the AI exactly what to do.

The AI uses "visual reasoning" to match the lighting, shadows, and perspective of your original photo to the new item you just "sketched" into existence.

Why it's useful: Whether you're a small business owner needing professional mockups or an individual with a vision, you can bring your ideas to life. From logos to realistic images, Nano Banana can render just about anything in seconds.

4. Record and summarize meetings while you walk

Woman walking along a path in a park while listening to music on her phone — (Image credit: Getty/FreshSplash)

With ChatGPT’s Voice Mode, you can hold a “walking meeting” with yourself — no keyboard, no notes app, no pause button. As you stroll around your neighborhood or between meetings, you can speak freely, dictating messy thoughts, strategy ideas or a recap of a call in real time.

You can talk through things like:

Big-picture ideas for a project
Brainstorming sessions you don’t want to forget
A play-by-play of a meeting you just finished
To-do lists rattling around in your head
Half-formed plans you want to refine later

When you’re back at your desk, switch to text mode and ask ChatGPT to “turn that transcript into a formatted memo with clear action items.” The AI organizes your stream-of-consciousness rambling into something polished, readable and usable.

Why it's useful: You can capture your best thinking whenever it hits — on a walk, in the car or between errands — and turn it into structured work without ever being tethered to a keyboard.

5. Turn your notes into a custom podcast

NotebookLM can transform your uploaded documents into a realistic two-person audio discussion. Instead of you reading page after page, two AI “hosts” talk through the material in a natural, conversational style — breaking down key ideas, explaining tricky concepts and highlighting what actually matters.

This is a great way to better understand a complex topic. You can even interject questions and the AI "hosts" will answer them in real time.

You can upload things like:

Long research papers
Technical manuals
Meeting notes
Textbooks or dense reports
Your own messy drafts or outlines

Once it generates the audio, you can play it back like a podcast, pause it, rewind it, or jump between sections.

Why it's useful: You can absorb complex information hands-free — while commuting, cleaning, walking the dog or working out — without feeling overwhelmed by walls of text.

6. Use “Artifacts” as a true side-by-side workspace

Anthrpic screen graphic — (Image credit: Anthropic)

Claude’s Artifacts feature opens your work in a dedicated panel beside the chat, rather than burying it inside a long message thread. When you ask Claude to write, edit or build something substantial — like a newsletter, a report outline, a marketing plan or a block of code — it appears in this separate workspace where you can view, tweak and iterate on it in real time.

You can use Artifacts for things like:

Drafting and revising long articles or emails
Building templates (newsletters, proposals, checklists)
Writing or debugging code
Structuring outlines, plans, or tables
Polishing documents line by line while still talking to Claude

Instead of scrolling up and down through a cluttered chat history, you keep your main work visible at all times while continuing to give instructions in the conversation window. Claude updates the Artifact as you go, so your document evolves alongside your thinking.

Why it's useful: It reduces “scrolling chaos” and makes Claude feel less like a chatbox and more like a lightweight document editor that you can collaborate with — keeping your work organized, easier to review and faster to refine.

7. Turn messy meeting notes into a professional slide deck

NotebookLM presentation — (Image credit: Future/Amanda Caswell)

I am terrible at putting presentations together. I tend to focus too much on the information within the slides and less on making it look polished. But without the right visuals, even the most important aspects of your pitch can get lost.

Instead of staring at a blank row of slides, now you can dump messy, half-formed thoughts into NotebookLM. Thanks to its Nano Banana integration, it gets to work — defining a narrative flow, grouping ideas by theme and generating a structured slide deck with titles and visuals in seconds. The first time I did it, I definitely exclaimed, "Voila!"

Why it's useful: You go from “brain dump” and messy handwritten notes to boardroom-ready without agonizing over structure or really any aspect of the presentation.

8. Automate your “Second Brain” inside Google Docs

Inside Google Docs, Gemini acts like a research assistant and synthesis engine across your entire Google Drive. Instead of manually copying and pasting from multiple files, you can use “Help me write” to pull information from different documents, spreadsheets and notes in one command.

For example, you could type: “Create a project proposal based on the notes in the ‘Meeting Minutes’ Doc and the ‘Budget’ Sheet in my Drive.”

Gemini will scan those files, extract the most relevant details and weave them into a structured draft with sections, headings and clear next steps. You can also ask it to update, refine or reformat that draft — like turning it into an executive summary, a slide outline or a client-facing report.

In practice, this means you can:

Turn scattered meeting notes into a polished plan
Build reports from raw data in Sheets
Draft memos based on past emails or documents
Summarize long projects into concise briefings
Align your writing with existing company templates or prior work

As someone who embarrasingly struggles with crafting spreadsheets, this one is a total gamechanger. Instead of jumping between tabs and apps, Gemini does the heavy lifting of connecting the dots for you.

Why it's useful: Your files start working together like a unified “second brain,” helping you go from fragmented information to a near-finished document in seconds — rather than hours of manual stitching and editing.

9. Visual translation and "What is that?"

chatgpt vision screenshot — (Image credit: Future)

If you’re traveling — or just naturally curious — you can use ChatGPT Vision or Google Lens like a real-time interpreter and problem-solver for the physical world around you.

Instead of Googling vague descriptions or guessing, you simply point your phone’s camera at whatever you’re unsure about and let AI do the interpreting.

For example, you can:

Show the AI a foreign-language menu and ask, “What are the best vegetarian options here?”
Take a picture of a mysterious dashboard warning light in your car and ask what it means and whether it’s urgent.
Be better informed about the ingredients in your food, makeup or cleaning supplies
Show the AI a plant in your yard and ask if it’s safe for pets or how to care for it.
Point your camera at confusing appliance buttons, medication labels, or signage and ask for a simple explanation.

The AI doesn’t just identify what it sees — it can translate text, explain what’s going on in plain English, and give you practical next steps (like what to order, whether to call a mechanic or how often to water a plant). I also use it when I'm not wearing my glasses and need to read things like expiration dates or prices when I'm grocery shopping.

Why it's useful: Your phone becomes a visual translator and instant helper, turning everyday confusion into clear answers in seconds — no manuals, language skills or expert knowledge required.

10. Solve circuits and logic problems just by sketching them

Woman drawing on tablet — (Image credit: Norton)

The AI: ChatGPT or Google Gemini

How it works: Draw a simple picture of your electrical setup or logic problem on paper, then take a photo of it with your phone. Upload it to ChatGPT or Gemini. You can also use ChatGPT Voice and Vision or Gemini Live and work in real time.

What to ask: Try prompts like, “Calculate the total resistance in this circuit,” or “What is the output if A is true and B is false?” The AI reads the connections between your symbols and applies the rules of physics or logic to give you an answer.

Or, for those of us who aren't engineers, you could doodle a simple “if this, then that” flow — like “If it’s raining > bring an umbrella” — and ask the AI to check whether your logic makes sense.

Why it’s useful: You get professional-style calculations from a simple sketch, no special software required.

Final thoughts

The biggest shift in AI over the past year, in my opinion, is how genuinely useful it has become for everyday life and work. These tools offer everything from hands-free note-taking, research assistance, file organization, creative collaboration and even visual problem-solving in minutes.

Of course, none of this means AI replaces human judgment or creativity. But when used well, it can free up your time and mental energy for the work that actually matters — thinking, deciding and creating. If you’ve only been using AI for basic writing or search, these 10 use cases show how much more it can do.

In other words: the most productive way to think about AI today isn’t “What can it write?” but “What can it take off my plate today?”

Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds.

More from Tom's Guide

Amanda Caswell is an award-winning journalist, bestselling YA author, and one of today’s leading voices in AI and technology. A celebrated contributor to various news outlets, her sharp insights and relatable storytelling have earned her a loyal readership. Amanda’s work has been recognized with prestigious honors, including outstanding contribution to media.

Known for her ability to bring clarity to even the most complex topics, Amanda seamlessly blends innovation and creativity, inspiring readers to embrace the power of AI and emerging technologies. As a certified prompt engineer, she continues to push the boundaries of how humans and AI can work together.

Beyond her journalism career, Amanda is a long-distance runner and mom of three. She lives in New Jersey.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.