How to use AI in everyday life: a beginner’s guide

Everyone’s talking about it, the people around you may already be using it, and you’re wondering where to start. To try simple uses of AI, you need no technical expertise, and a free plan may be enough. This guide covers your very first steps. You’ll choose a tool, check two settings, have a first conversation and see what to do when the answer isn’t right.

What is an AI assistant?

Conversational AI assistants, also called chatbots, understand questions you type or dictate and reply in everyday language. They can rephrase, summarise, explain and suggest ideas. They have limits too. An AI can be wrong, sometimes with great confidence, and what it knows isn’t always up to date.

For everything that follows, remember that AI makes suggestions and you make the decisions.

Choosing your first tool

There’s no need to try them all. Most of the main assistants for the general public, such as ChatGPT (OpenAI), Gemini (Google), Claude (Anthropic), Copilot (Microsoft) or Mistral’s Vibe (formerly Le Chat), have a free version that’s enough to get started. You can use them in a web browser or in an app on your phone, and some ask you to create an account.

To choose, look at which one is already built into the tools you use and which one a friend can show you. Starting with a friend’s tool helps, because they can step in when you’re unsure.

Before your first question: two settings to look at

Take two minutes to open the settings of the tool you’ve chosen and look for two options.

• History tells you whether your conversations are kept and whether you can delete them.
• Model improvement tells you whether your conversations can be used to train the AI and whether you can opt out.

The right choice depends on you. What matters is making it knowingly. We explain these settings, and what never to write to an AI, in our article on AI and privacy.

Your first conversation, step by step

Let’s take an example with nothing at stake, finding something to cook tonight.

1. Write as you would speak, for example “I’ve got eggs, courgettes and cheese. What can I cook in 20 minutes?”. You don’t need a special formula.
2. Read the whole answer. The AI usually suggests several ideas, with the steps.
3. Say what you want, such as “without an oven” or “for four people”. The AI keeps track of the conversation, so there’s no need to repeat everything.
4. Ask for what’s missing, for example “what can I use instead of cheese?”.
5. Keep what helps. You don’t have to follow the answer to the letter.

You’ve just used AI. The more detail you add as the conversation goes on, the better the answer fits. Our method for writing a good prompt will help you get there faster.

When the answer isn’t right

First answers are sometimes disappointing. Here’s what to do in the most common cases.

• If the answer is too long, ask for “5 lines maximum” or “just the essentials”.
• If it doesn’t meet your need, spell out the goal, the useful context and what you’ve already tried, without adding personal information you don’t need to.
• If it stays too general, give an example of what you expect.
• If it seems to make things up, ask where the information comes from, then check at the source. AIs can produce hallucinations.
• If it refuses to answer, the request may touch on a sensitive subject. Rephrase more precisely, or turn to a professional for questions about health, money or the law.

3 habits to keep

1. Check what matters. A date, a price or a health tip should be checked at the source.
2. Keep your secrets to yourself. Passwords, card numbers and confidential documents have no place in a conversation.
3. Keep the final word. When an answer looks odd, trust that feeling and check.

What next?

Once your first conversation is done, look for one or two tasks AI can make easier every week. Our library of 10 everyday uses of AI gives you requests ready to copy.

There’s no hurry. Cautious profiles such as the Observer or the Pillar can build on their search for what’s useful to shape their own uses. To find out where you should start, take our free test. In about 3 minutes, with no account, you’ll discover your profile and a first tip suited to you.