AI, machine learning, or even just models are constantly present everywhere—often without us even noticing. A prime example is when you open the Photos app on Apple or Google. In the background, a machine learning technology has been working for years, trying to recognize different elements within images. The same goes for speech-to-text—it follows the same principle. Generating text from prompts you've previously set up is also a technology that has existed for years. It's not new; it's just that now it's so easy to use and the quality is high enough that it can be applied in everyday life. So, let's be honest—it's not exactly brand new.
My list of favorite AI tools
Give me Cursor AI, and I'll never open Figma again. Why? Honestly, if you have a consistent look and feel that needs to be maintained, you could theoretically just tell the tool exactly how to write the HTML, how to structure it, how to improve it—and you could even run usability tests directly within it.
Why the hell should I create mockups that someone else will later turn into code? It just doesn't make sense. And right now, I'm realizing that even more. Why not write everything directly in code and test it right away? You can also test interactions much more effectively this way.
Figma simply isn't powerful enough for applications where you're just replicating yet another basic process. For in-house, complex products with many process steps, Figma just isn't the right tool.
Cursor AI, on the other hand, is insanely powerful because it runs on Claude 3.5 Sonnet. You can write code directly, edit it, ask follow-up questions, iterate together over the code, play a kind of Ping-Pong, use the terminal directly, access the debugging console, see outputs, view interactions, and get instant suggestions. It's incredibly valuable and incredibly fast. I've never rebuilt my website as quickly as I have now.
ChatGPT
AI-powered chatbot
I don't even know where to begin. From societal issues, standard questions, surveys, a11y, and highly professional inquiries about design, acceptance, physiology, psychology, media, natural sciences, programming, everyday questions, cooking recipes, writing emails, crafting and formulating factual texts, questioning your own opinions, and reflecting on them—I have no idea where to start with this model. This thing can do almost everything.
Of course, it has its limitations, front and back.
It definitely carries a cognitive bias—like that of an old white man. Just bluntly ask it to how to came up with a persona, and you'll get some absolute nonsense back. At least, that was still the case with version 4. I don't know if it has improved with 4o or how it should actually be structured appropriately now. But it keeps getting better and better.
Internet research has become easier because of it—especially with the models that have already been announced. It's genuinely life-changing. And even though I use it regularly, I realize that it doesn't just speed me up by at least 800%. It also leaves me completely cognitively overwhelmed because I can suddenly work faster than I ever could before. I've never had this much throughput in my life. You just can't ignore that.
And as a result, I now have more time for other things—things that might actually matter more to me.
MacWhisper
Speach to text model
MacWhisper is, for me personally, a miracle cure and a peace-bringing tool that frees me from constantly
hearing from everyone that I can't write texts, that I'm incapable of using commas or proper
punctuation—because, honestly, I just don't see it. I can speak freely, and my spoken words are
immediately converted into text—and sometimes even corrected in the process. That means there are commas
and periods in there, even apostrophes that I would normally never use. I just have no clue about that
stuff.
And the best part?
It all runs locally on my computer, meaning nothing goes to the cloud. Theoretically,
if my employer wanted to use it, I could dictate up to 150 words in German at any time and then run them
through an LLM to produce a perfectly polished text. Of course, everything might sound a bit similar in
tone, but in those moments when you're alone, without anyone to take notes during meetings or produce
transcripts—oh my God.
But...
I would wish every single day to be able to use that at Volkswagen, my current
employer.
But of course, that's not possible—because processes, processes, processes. Still, Mac Whisper is
incredibly powerful and strong. It's based on tooling from OpenAI, who trained a model that converts
speech into text.