The surge in generative artificial intelligence may have begun with the advent of ChatGPT, but this technology has now been widely integrated into various productivity tools, making our daily work more effortless. When it comes to the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace, many may worry that this technology will replace their jobs. However, these AI tools are not meant to replace us but rather to enhance our work efficiency.
AI tools can help us handle some trivial yet necessary daily tasks, saving us a significant amount of time in the long run. This allows us to spend more time on things we enjoy or activities that are more beneficial to our work. Some tools, once used, are hard to stop. Therefore, I have incorporated these tools into my daily workflow. The following five tools, which require an external network environment, are now almost indispensable in my daily routine, including one artificial intelligence chatbot and others that are practical tools to improve efficiency.1. Microsoft Copilot
I have tested many artificial intelligence chatbots on the market, and Copilot remains my favorite for the following reasons: Copilot integrates multiple functionalities, including artificial intelligence image generation and web information responses, and it is completely free! This is a significant difference from other products on the market that require a subscription to use corresponding services (such as the Plus subscription for ChatGPT). In my daily work, I mainly use Copilot as a conversational search engine. Whenever I encounter any issues, I usually ask Copilot first instead of directly searching on Baidu or Google. This is because I do not need to sift through hundreds of search results; instead, I can solve my problems through simple conversations. More importantly, Copilot provides information sources when answering questions, allowing me to easily verify the accuracy of the answers and delve deeper into related content. Visit the website at: https://copilot.microsoft.com/ 2. Canva Pro Canva offers almost every graphic design tool you can think of, as well as its own AI image generator. But if you are busy creating visual content every day, you may not need AI-generated stylized images. What you truly need is a tool that can help you easily and quickly create website pages, invitations, posters, and PPTs, and this is where Canva Pro excels.Canva Pro boasts an array of impressive graphic design tools such as Magic Edit, Magic Design, Magic Eraser, and Background Remover, making it my primary tool for daily design tasks. With the addition of more AI features like Magic Studio, Canva’s capabilities have become even more powerful. Magic Studio offers a variety of tools including Magic Switch, Magic Media, Magic Design, Brand Voice, Magic Morph, Magic Grab, and Magic Expand, all of which can perform a series of powerful tasks, virtually automating all your visual design needs.
My personal favorite, and a tool I frequently use, is Canva’s AI Background Remover. Sounds simple? But if you’ve ever tried to separate an object from a photo using tools like Photoshop, you’ll know how cumbersome the process can be, or how poorly other automated tools can handle it. With Canva, you just need to click a button to separate objects in the image, and the AI consistently delivers accurate results. Canva Pro’s personal premium version has an annual fee of 300 yuan and offers a free trial. Visit the website: https://www.canva.com/3.Otter.ai
If you’ve ever experienced the tedium of transcribing conversations by hand, you’ll know it’s a slow and boring task. Now, artificial intelligence can help. Whether you need to record lecture content from a classroom, take meeting notes, or document daily interviews, Otter. ai can save you a significant amount of time. With Otter.ai, you simply import the audio file, and it will transcribe the entire conversation in just a few minutes. This AI tool can also identify speakers’ names, conversation timestamps, and the transcriptions are quite accurate. I have used other transcription tools, but Otter.ai stands out in terms of accuracy and efficiency. Otter.ai has a free plan, but it has some limitations: you can only transcribe 300 minutes of conversation per month, each conversation is limited to 30 minutes, and free accounts can only import files three times.
Therefore, if the conversations you record need to be transcribed frequently, the free plan may not meet your needs. If you need to import files without restrictions and use the advanced search function, Otter.ai offers a subscription service at $8.33 per month. Considering the time saved by using Otter.ai, I think this expense is worthwhile. After all, time is money. Visit the website: https://otter.
ai/ 4. ChatPDF ChatPDF is a free AI tool that is simple yet extremely practical. With ChatPDF, we can save the trouble of reading documents ourselves and directly ask it questions. PDF files often contain a large amount of information that is difficult to understand or useless to us, especially scientific magazines and research papers, as they are filled with professional terms and take a long time to read. However, ChatPDF can scan the entire PDF file within seconds and then answer any of your questions, and also provide a detailed content summary. In this way, if you still have questions about a certain topic or page in the PDF file, using this tool can help you understand it better. For example, I use ChatPDF to verify whether my understanding after reading a file is correct. I might ask, “Is it true that long-term use of electronic devices can affect sleep quality?” Then, ChatPDF will verify whether this statement is accurate and point out the specific pages that support my understanding. Or, it will say “Not entirely correct” and give a conclusion, along with the relevant pages. For the detailed usage tutorial of ChatPDF, please see: ChatPDF, a tool that can increase your reading efficiency by more than 10 times. Visit the website: https://www.chatpdf.com/ 5. Midjourney Midjourney is an excellent artificial intelligence image creation website. It is particularly popular and has powerful functions. As long as you enter the text description of the image you want, Midjourney will generate a series of images based on your text prompts. You can use it to generate backgrounds, realistic photos, paintings, 3D illustrations, logos, etc. It is particularly interesting to use and has many creative possibilities. Although there are many similar tools on the market, if you are looking for a reliable, all-round and high-quality image-generating AI tool, Midjourney is definitely a good choice. If you are a newly registered user, you have approximately 25 free creative opportunities.This means you can generate approximately 25 images for free. Make the most of these opportunities before you need to become a paid member to continue using the service.
For a detailed Midjourney usage tutorial, please refer to: AI Painting Tool Midjourney Registration, Download Tutorial, and Basic Usage Guide! Visit the website: https://www.midjourney.com/
