Wonder Tools

Discover a groundbreaking AI tool that empowers absolute beginners to create games and applications effortlessly. With just a simple prompt, users can generate code, test it, and revise it in real-time. This innovative service eliminates the intimidation of coding and opens up a world of possibilities for those curious about technology. From dreaming up fun games to crafting useful apps, the ease of use makes diving into coding an exciting adventure.

Discover Julius, the innovative AI service revolutionizing data analysis. It transforms giant datasets into actionable insights, perfect for businesses and scientific research alike. Learn how it's been instrumental in making revenue projections and identifying reader retention patterns. With its versatility in handling diverse data types and running Python code, Julius empowers users to dive deep into analytics without needing a dedicated data analyst. Tune in for comparisons with other AI tools and user experiences!

Even if you can't draw or take a decent photo, you can now illustrate anything. Services like Unsplash, Pexels, and free Creative Commons search simplify finding free high-quality images. Canva lets anyone quickly create simple graphics. And now services like Ideogram let you capitalize on AI image generation to dream up your own instant visuals. I used to rely mostly on DALL-E 3 for AI image generation through ChatGPT, but Ideogram has become my new favorite. It gives you four options per query, creates more vivid art, and includes accurate text within images. I use it to create social media graphics, illustrations for this newsletter, and designs for slides. Read on for how to make the most of it. How to start using Ideogram* Visit Ideogram.ai and sign up for free with your Google or Apple acccont. Explore the public gallery to see others’ images and the prompts they used. * Describe an image you envision in a few sentences. Don’t worry about precise wording. You can opt to let Ideogram refine your prompt.* Choose a style. Decide if you want an illustrated or photographic-style image. Or pick ‘auto’ to let the algorithm decide. You can also select a color palette. * Choose dimensions. Pick a wide, vertical or square image. I mostly generate wide images, which match the width of Web pages.* Click generate. On a free account, you can generate a handful of free images per day. * Wait a minute. The service slows free requests to incentivize upgrades. * Download the image you like and use it any way you choose. Check the help page for additional guidance. Pricing* Free for 10 slow credits a day (~5 images). * $7 or $16/monthly billed annually for more images, quicker rendering, and advanced features like Canvas, which lets you modify & extend images. Ideogram’s Best features * Create 5 images daily for free. Experiment with the service’s top-quality engine. You don’t need a paid account to get great results. * It’s easy to prompt. Ideogram’s “magic prompt” algorithm refines your initial query into a polished image request you can approve or revise. * Choose from 4 options. Each time you submit a prompt, you get back four generated images. Being able to choose one gives you a bit of editorial input.* Get accurate text within images. Many AI generation tools can’t reliably reproduce text well. If you ask for an image with a phrase in it, words may be be misspelled and letters mangled. (See my recent bungled attempts with DALL-E 3 and Adobe Firefly). Ideogram, though, is particularly good at handling text in images. Accurate text is valuable for social media graphics, thumbnails, banners, and logos. Check out Ideogram’s guidance on text & typography, which includes sample prompts you can build on. * Pick from a variety of styles. Choose from photorealistic images (“realistic”) or three kinds of illustrations (“design,” “anime,” or “3D”). There’s also a poorly-named “general” option. I often choose “auto” to choose from multiple approaches. I can opt for a clean, modern look for a presentation, or a more abstract, artsy vibe for a creative project.* Use negative prompts. Paid subscribers can list specific elements NOT to be included in an image. That can be helpful if a particular detail could prevent your image from being usable, as in the burger example below. * Pick your image orientation. You can generate a horizontal, vertical, or square image. Free users have 11 orientation options. That’s helpful for generating images that will fit your slide, podcast, newsletter, ad banner, site header, or whatever else. Paid subscribers can specify any dimensions.* Explore the public gallery of generated images. Browse what others have created to spark new ideas. You can draw inspiration from others’ prompts. Take a look at top-ranked images. * Remix anything. Modify images you or others have generated with Ideogram’s remix button. I often tweak what I’ve generated to get closer to what I want.* Extend images. Canvas, a new feature, lets paid users edit, extend or combine images on a large canvas. Read about what’s new or watch a promo video to get a sense of it.👇  Caveats and concerns about AI image generation* Less control. With traditional visual editing tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, Figma, and Canva, you have full control over the pixels you’re designing. When generating images with AI, you can create amazing art within seconds, but you have less sway over a visual’s specifics. * Risk of confusion. Some AI-generated images look like real people, objects or buildings, which can occasionally be misleading if not captioned or explained. For instance, an AI-generated photo of a person in a business setting might be mistaken for a real employee.* Displacement of artists. Talented professionals may see diminishing demand for their services as people increasingly look to AI services in lieu of hiring creatives.* The rise of AI sludge. With AI image generation spreading, sustaining a distinct visual identity may get harder. As it becomes easier to imitate anyone’s visual style, AI-powered copycats may proliferate.    * Vague prompts may not yield the desired results. If your prompt isn’t specific, you may get a golden retriever instead of a poodle, or a tuba instead of a trumpet. Tip: if you’re ending up with generic images, prompt ChatGPT or Claude to help you craft more detailed prompt options. Ask for five or 10 options to choose from, and push for bold, creative, surprising options.Ideogram caveats* Limited free images. I often have to iterate on a prompt several times before getting something usable. On a free plan that may mean getting only one or two quality images a day.* Reduced image quality on downloads. Free users can only download a 70% quality JPEG image, not the full-resolution version. * Public image creation only. All images created on the free plan are public, meaning others can view and remix them. To keep your images private, you’ll need to pay $16/month billed annually.  AlternativesDALL-E 3 ChatGPT’s built-in AI image generation tool is what I used most often until recently to create images for my newsletter. The image quality is excellent. And it has a helpful edit feature. You can select an area of a generated image and prompt it to change that part. But DALL-E 3 is less reliable at generating accurate text than Ideogram or Flux.FluxAlongside Ideogram, Flux is one of my favorite new AI services. You can use it for free through HuggingFace or Freepik. It creates gorgeous images and doesn’t require any special prompting lingo. I find Ideogram simpler to use, but Flux is similarly excellent at generating accurate text inside images. Adobe FireflyThe company behind Photoshop has a growing suite of AI tools. Firefly has some unique capabilities. You can customize your image’s camera angle, lighting, color, tone and special effects. In my tests, though, it isn’t consistently generating text within images accurately.Looking ahead: In upcoming posts and in live events for paid subscribers I’ll share more of what I’m learning about how to make the most of AI image generation. I’ll also share examples from Midjourney, Canva and other emerging image-generation tools. Please leave a comment about your own experience with AI image generation. What have you used it for, and what works best for you? 👇 Get full access to Wonder Tools at wondertools.substack.com/subscribe

Discover the magic of ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode, a free tool that transforms your mobile device into a conversation wizard. Use it for language practice, virtual museum tours, and even meditation. Learn about privacy settings to keep your data secure while exploring its capabilities. The technology behind the AI voice narrator is fascinating, offering personalized engagement and productivity tips. Dive into fun and practical uses that can revolutionize your daily tasks!

Discover how Google's NotebookLM evolves as a powerful AI tool for note analysis. Its latest updates allow users to customize AI-generated audio content with a focus on specific topics. The podcast explores privacy concerns and the organizational strategies that enhance productivity. Learn about innovative functionalities like AI chat features and the creation of specialized notebooks. Additionally, dive into alternative AI tools enhancing note-taking and learning, all while navigating the balance between creativity and data security.

In this engaging discussion, Nikita Roy, a data scientist and media entrepreneur, shares insights on utilizing AI for enhanced productivity. She reveals how tools like Perplexity can revolutionize research, providing quick summaries instead of traditional search engines. Nikita emphasizes AI's role in streamlining email management and scheduling with solutions like Shortwave and Reclaim AI. She also highlights the importance of using AI for brainstorming and improving writing processes, making creative tasks more accessible and efficient for everyone.

Supernormal just launched an easy new way to create free AI agents. These automated assistants can independently host, transcribe, and summarize online conversations. See what they’re like by trying my experimental agents: one conducts reader surveys, another screens sponsorship inquiries, and a third collects cool tool nominations.Read this full post on the Wonder Tools siteI even set up a Skeptical Critic agent you can try that will question your ideas. It’s useful as a verbal jousting partner to prepare for difficult conversations. Read on to learn how and why to create your own AI agents for free, along with caveats and my pro/con reflections.How to create your own agent * Create a free Supernormal account. * Select the type of agent you want to create: sales, survey, customer support, event feedback, employee engagement, or custom.   * Give your agent a name and an optional logo and color.* Select whether you want to collect participant names and emails.* Provide context and instructions. For my survey agent, for example, I provided a list of questions and background info about my newsletter.* Once you’ve created the agent, publish it and copy its link to distribute.* When users click the agent's link, they’re prompted to provide their name and email (if required) and offered a button to start a live Google Meet video chat with the agent.* Powered by ChatGPT’s top model, your agent understands conversations and follows custom instructions to guide one-on-one discussions lasting up to 10 minutes.* If you connect an agent to your calendar, it can schedule a meeting for you to follow-up.  * When the conversation ends, the agent saves and summarizes the transcript for you to review at your convenience.* The agent can continue hosting meetings with whomever has its link until you deactivate it.Want to give it a try? Converse with my agents* Talk to my Wonder Tools survey agent to share your thoughts on this newsletter. * Talk to my sponsorship agent to promote your product or service to this newsletter’s readership.* Try sharing your workflow and getting a suggestion with my AI productivity intern.* Recommend a tool, tip or tactic. Have a cool site or service I should write about? Help me understand what’s useful about it. * Talk to my skeptical critic about anything you’re working on to get practice responding to tough questions.* Talk with Supernormal’s sales agent to learn more about Supernormal.Privacy and pricingPrivacy. The conversations you or others have with your agent remain private. Your data isn’t sold or used to train LLM models.Pricing. It’s free to use supernormal agents while in beta. For transcribing meetings, Supernormal is free for limited use, up to 1,000 minutes. It’s $10/person/month billed annually for unlimited transcription and other advanced capabilities. Businesses can pay $19/person/month to connect Hubspot, Salesforce and other tools.What to do with your agents* Role play. A Texas professor created an agent to act as a combative patient. Pharmacy students were assigned to converse with the patient to practice handling difficult conversations. * Collect info. Gather observations, opinions, anecdotes or examples from community members. Some people might find it more accessible and convenient to share input with an AI agent verbally, rather than in a form.* Answer common questions. Provide your agent with a list of frequently asked questions and basic info so it can provide answers. People need not pore over a long text FAQ online or wait for you to answer mundane queries.* Schedule follow-ups. Your agent can let people schedule time to talk with you after chatting with your AI. Connect Supernormal to your Calendly (see past post) to give your agent a live view of available time slots. People can then book a meeting with you without a lengthy email exchange. Add an agent to a team meetingPaid subscribers can invite Norma, Supernormal's new AI agent, to team meetings. Norma can help with brainstorming, catching up latecomers, or answering live questions.Example: Watch a recording of a 10-minute meeting I had with Norma where I asked her (it?) to brainstorm creative ways of using an agent in a live meeting.* Catch people up. If team members miss part of a meeting, Norma can get them quickly up to speed on what’s been discussed.* Get helpful info. Norma can add ideas or insights about trends, industry history, or whatever else you might look up.* Gain a brainstorming assistant. Bat ideas around with Norma in a private conversation, or add her to a team idea-jamming session. So far this strikes me as the most useful of Norma’s capabilities.Transcription. Aside from its agents, Supernormal excels at recording, transcribing and summarizing online meetings. You can add its bot to any meeting to get a detailed summary and transcript. Having compared it to a half-dozen other tools, I’ve found it to be one of the best at meeting summarization. I like the expanded bullets feature, which lets you drill deeper into any section of a meeting summary. I also appreciate the new AMA — Ask Me Anything— capability. Ask a bot about any meeting transcript to review important points.🤔 Caveats * Agent conversations are limited to 10 minutes. * All agent-hosted chats happen in Google Meet for now, though other platforms will follow.* While it’s free to create agents at the moment, they will eventually require a paid subscription.* The service is in beta, so you may bump into occasional minor hiccups. In some of my Google Meet tests, for example, Norma got stuck and couldn’t respond. And one of my agents lost its instructions.* The AI agent voice isn’t quite as lifelike as the newest ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode or the top ElevenLabs voices.Pro and Con👍 The case for AI agentsAI agents offer a helpful new way for customers or community members to meet with a virtual representative any time they choose. AI agents help people get questions answered, meetings scheduled, and leads qualified. The efficiency with which those routine conversations are managed by an agent can ensure human time is prioritized for conversations where person-to-person interaction is most valuable. When designed well, these AI interactions can be fun, fast, and fruitful.👎 The argument against AI agentsThe more we rely on automated AI assistants, the further people will drift from one another. When AI agents take over our calls, emails, dating, and schedules, we risk becoming more isolated and less connected to others.In his last essay as the NYTimes food critic, Pete Wells lamented (gift link) the decline of the human touch. “Blackbird’s new checkless exit gives me the creeps,” Wells wrote. “It is just the latest in a series of changes that have gradually and steadily stripped the human touch and the human voice out of restaurants. Each of these changes was small, but together they’ve made going out to eat much less personal…”What do you think? Please leave a comment 👇Alternatives * For paying subscribers, ChatGPT's new advanced voice mode simulates natural conversations with lifelike inflections. You can use it to practice for an interview or work on a foreign language. Unlike Supernormal, it can’t interact with others as an agent on your behalf.* Intercom and other customer service tools are adding AI capabilities to assist with answering customer service questions. They’re primarily powering text bots to boost human agents’ efficiency, rather than promoting voice agents.* Speeko, Yoodli, Poised, and other new AI tools aim to be like Grammarly for public speaking, providing real-time feedback. These can be useful for instant input, but they’re limited to narrow use-cases. Get full access to Wonder Tools at wondertools.substack.com/subscribe

The audio for this post was generated by feeding the text of this Wonder Tools newsletter post into NotebookLM's new Audio Overview feature.Read the full post on the Wonder Tools Substack pagePerplexity is the most useful new search tool I’ve used this year. It uses AI to answer your questions using online sources. You get specific citations so you know where the info comes from and can dig deeper. The summary responses are concise and relevant, and the links help you validate the info. Read on for examples of when it’s most useful as well as limitations, and alternatives.Pricing: Free for unlimited quick searches and five Pro searches per day. Or $20/month for 300+ Pro searches and to upload and analyze unlimited files. See the feature comparison.PrivacyPerplexity lets you search privately in multiple ways.* You can search in an incognito browser tab without even creating a Perplexity account.* If you do create a free Perplexity account to store to your search results, you can turn on the Incognito setting to anonymize any individual search.* You can keep “data retention” off in your settings. (Screenshot)* Perplexity only parses publicly available information — not paywalled news. And it only reads URLs when asked a related question.What’s most useful about Perplexity* Citations Perplexity provides links to its sources, allowing you to verify information and dig deeper when needed.* Brevity Instead of long articles, get straight-to-the-point answers that respect your time.* Multi-Step Reasoning Perplexity breaks down complex queries into steps, providing more comprehensive answers.* Focusing Refine your search by specifying preferred sources or domains for more targeted results.* Follow-ups Ask follow-up questions to dive deeper into a topic, just like a conversation.* Collections Group related searches into collections for easy reference and organization.* Pages Create shareable pages to collaborate or present your findings.Examples: When to use Perplexity* Get up to speed on a topic: Need to research North Korea-China relations? Ask Perplexity for a summary and sources. You can then dig deeper as needed. See the result.* Research hyper-specific information: If you’re exploring organizations that help respond to earthquakes, ask for a list of organizations that crowdsource info about natural disasters. See the result.* Explore personal curiosities: If you're interested in Mozart’s development as a violinist, you could ask for key dates and details. See the result.More examples of search results* Gather data: “How much debt has been forgiven under the PSLF in 2023 and 2024?” See the result.* Summarize official reports: “What are the most reputable forecasts about the long-term impact of Brexit on the UK's GDP? What are the main findings of the report?” See the result.* Check public opinion: “Is there a Pew survey about discovering news through social media platforms?” See the result.* Explore historical archives: “List literacy and education programs implemented in high-growth African countries in the last decade.” See the result.* Discover patterns: “Compare residential rent to residential real estate trends in California.” See the results.Caveats* Accuracy and hallucinations: While Perplexity uses retrieval augmented generation to reduce errors, it's not flawless. Always double-check information, especially data, before using it in your work.* Real-time information: Perplexity isn’t an optimal source for up-to-the-minute information. For breaking news, rely on primary news sources instead.* Document analysis limitations: The file size limit is 50MB. For larger files, try converting them to text.* OCR capabilities: Perplexity works best with modern files that already have optical character recognition. Historical documents with hard-to-read pages or faded text may pose challenges.* Limited image generation capabilities. While Perplexity can be used to generate images, I haven’t found that to be one of its strong points. I’d recommend another service focused on images, like Midjourney, Adobe Firefly, Canva or Flux. I mostly rely on DALL-E 3 as part of the ChatGPT plan I pay $20 monthly for.* The Discovery section offers quick news summaries. As with Google News, though, it's unclear how topics and sources are selected.Bonus features* The Perplexity Encyclopedia has an interesting collection of tool comparisons, like Descript vs Adobe Audition.* The free Chrome Extension lets you summon a Perplexity search from any page. The “summarize” button doesn’t always work for me, though.AlternativesFree* Google Generative Search: Google's AI search (in testing) gives summary responses like Perplexity. Early on it made embarrassing mistakes but has improved.* Arc Mobile Search: A mobile app that uses AI to browse multiple sites and provide summarized results. It has ad and tracker blocking.Free with optional paid subscription* Liner is an AI search tool aimed at university students that looks a lot like Perplexity. It’s already used at NYU, USC, UC Berkeley. It was #4 on Andreessen Horowitz’s list of the most popular Web-based gen AI tools. Pricing: Free for basic searches, or $20/month for more advanced searching.* Consensus: Excellent AI research tool. Pick a scientific or academic topic to get a summary of findings and source links. This example shows the results of a search for how cash transfers impact poverty. More useful than Google Scholar, which just gives you a laundry list of study links with no summary. Pricing: Free for unlimited searches and limited premium use; $9/month billed annually for full AI capabilities.* Elicit: Designed for research tasks, it helps with literature reviews and data analysis. This example shows a helpful response I got when exploring the extent to which Shakespeare was influenced by Montaigne. Pricing: Free for basic usage or $10/month billed annually to extract data from more PDFs. Get full access to Wonder Tools at wondertools.substack.com/subscribe

Hugging Face is the best place to try thousands of free demo apps that show what AI can do. It’s an open-source community where developers test new models. It’s also an exciting digital playground where you can try out the most advanced new AI experiments for free. Read on for free ones I recommend trying. What new AI tools are you finding most intriguing?Read the original full post online for all links, images and more Generate stunning images Hugging Face gives you a great fast, free way to try multiple versions of the most-buzzed about new AI image-generation engine: Flux. This AI model renders remarkably vivid images. It has several distinctions over earlier AI image generation tools, including:* Pick dimensions: Choose the horizontal/vertical ratio; not just squares.* Show words. It can show text inside images. Other engines struggle w/ this.* Short prompts work. No need for paragraphs to get a superb result. Instantly remove an image’s background Upload any image or take a Webcam picture. Seconds later, download a background-free image, with more reliable results than I saw with prior software tools. Useful for slides, posters, and other designs. [Alternatives: Adobe Express has a free background removal tool, no log-in required, and remove bg lets you try one for free].Enhance an image Upload a blurry image and see it re-rendered instantly with sharp details. The viewer has a helpful scrub bar so you can easily compare the before and after. Generate a gif Instead of searching giphy for an existing gif, make your own with a simple prompt. Useful for making less goofy gifs.Generate a detailed caption Get a precise, thorough caption for any image. This can help with alt-text, enabling those who use a screen reader to understand what’s in an image. Preview an outfit Upload a photo or choose a sample image. Then press run to see how the outfit looks on your subject.  Animate an image Upload a portrait photo. Then select a sample (or upload a) video that shows close-up facial movements. Press the animate button to see the portrait come to life with those expressions. Here’s my 3-second Lincoln example.Cut out an object Remove an object from an image with multiple elements. It’s more accurate and effective than generic background removal in that you can specify — with text — which object in the image to pull out, like this lamp.Translate a video Upload a video or audio file — or provide a video link — and request that the audio be translated into another language. Note: it’s processor-intensive and popular, so expect waiting time of at least a few minutes. Alternatives: Captions and Kapwing also have paid tools for this.Sponsored MessageClean up your inbox today and keep it that way forever. SaneBox uses personalized algorithms to quickly learn your email habits and show your most important messages first, while filtering out the noise. Best of all, it works wherever you check email, on all clients and devices.Sign up today and save $15 on any subscription!Do more with Hugging Face 🤗* Join a user community. I joined Journalists on Hugging Face. It hosts resources for journalists and points to special AI applications, like one that injects AI capabilities into Google Sheets.* Measure AI bias Explore potential biases in text-to-image models. The tool generates multiple images from a prompt, then analyzes the resulting gender, skin tone, and age of the generated subject. Useful for running your own bias tests.* Explore AI ethics Thought-provoking explorations of issues raised by AI.* Check out AI leaderboards See which AI chatbots rank highest among users, along with other functional and technical comparisons.* My collection of favorite AI demo tools on Hugging Face.Caveats* Wait time. Not all results will be instantaneous. The models share processing power so you sometimes have to wait a minute to see a result. * Can be overwhelming. With thousands of apps, it’s easy to get lost in the rabbit hole. And it can be hard to keep track of which apps you like. Creating a collection can be helpful. Here’s how. Here’s my collection.* Technical names. Many demo apps have confusing technical names “FLUX.1 Dev ControlNet Union Pro” and other such monikers might not make sense at first. Fortunately, others do have clear names like “Finegrain Image Enhancer,” “Background removal” or “Flux Gifs.”* Made for developers. The Hugging Face community is primarily for those with technical skills in machine learning, natural language processing, and other AI domains. So on some pages you’ll bump into jargon that’s obscure for those of us who lack relevant technical knowledge. If you’re mainly interested in trying out AI apps, stick to the Spaces section, where the apps are on display. Hugging Face MobileYou can use the mobile version of Hugging Face to quickly switch back and forth between all sorts of bots — from storytellers to philosophers, each instructed to communicate distinctly. You can also generate images or pursue ChatGPT-like queries with the best open-source models without any cost. There’s a dedicated iOS app. Or access it from other phones at huggingface.co/chat.Alternative: The Poe app is an excellent alternative for trying out specialty bots created by community members. It doesn’t have as wide a variety of AI apps as Hugging Face, but its thousands of bots are well organized and searchable. Check out my brief guide to Poe for examples and tips.Check out WonderTools.Substack.com for more👇 Get full access to Wonder Tools at wondertools.substack.com/subscribe

Claude has quietly become one of the most powerful AI tools. Its most surprising and useful feature launched this summer: Projects. I can now train Claude to assist me with anything I’m working on by uploading up to 500 pages of my relevant notes, files, and examples.Read the full published post on SubstackHow to use Claude ProjectsStep 1. Upload contextual materials. After initiating a new project I upload relevant materials. I can provide examples of my past work, outlines, notes, interview transcripts, past feedback, or whatever else might help ensure the relevance and usefulness of AI replies.Step 2. Set custom instructions. I provide Claude with custom instructions for supporting me on the project. I tell it about my project’s context and goals. I specify a role Claude should play. And I detail the desired tone, form, and style of responses Claude should provide in response to my prompts.Note: These overarching project instructions are not specific to any one prompt. They remain part of Claude’s instructions over the course of a long series of iterative queries. But they’re only for that project, so they won’t interfere with how Claude responds to my prompts related to other projects.Step 3: Begin prompting. I draft prompts for Claude to assist me as I work on the project. I provide these prompts to reduce the time I spend on menial or technical tasks Claude can take care of splendidly. That allows me to expand the range of creative ideas I can consider and ensures I have the bandwidth to do work I would otherwise have to give up on.Benefits of Claude ProjectsI can create as many projects as I need. It’s easy to create separate projects for each area of focus. For each project, I upload materials specifically relevant to that project.For example, for a teaching project, I can upload past teaching plans I’ve created, as well as transcripts of presentations I’ve given. For a new volunteering project I’m working on, I can upload my past notes, ideas, outlines, and drafts to help Claude assist me in developing a new multifaceted project plan.Why this is useful. Rather than tossing queries at ChatGPT with just a short prompt to give it context, Claude can tailor its answers based on extensive background materials, past examples, and detailed instructions. That transforms it into a hyper-personalized digital assistant.Note on privacy. Anthropic, which operates Claude, doesn’t train its model on the material I upload or the prompts I submit. Here’s the policy summarized simply. Exceptions to this arise if material you submit is flagged for safety or trust review, or if you give a response a thumbs up or down. That’s one reason I don’t use the thumbs up/down feature to rate Claude’s responses.Pricing: Claude’s basic AI is free for anyone to use. Projects, though, require Claude Pro, at $20/month. I justify spending that on Claude by observing that it’s performing the role of a valuable digital assistant for a month for less than what it might cost me to hire someone for an hour.The team plan costs $25/month/person and requires at least five members, who can then share and collaborate on projects.Ideas for using Claude’s Projects* Draft project or event plans. Provide Claude with notes, goals, deadlines, project context and any other relevant documents. Prompt it to assist you in creating detailed project plans, timelines, memos, step-by-step task lists and more.Tip: Remind Claude to ask questions whenever it needs additional information to provide targeted, useful responses. Give it feedback after its initial responses to push it in whatever direction you need.* Prepare for workshops or classes. Provide background on the class or workshop you’re teaching, your objectives, and your pedagogical style. Then task Claude with assisting you in generating examples to use in class, provocative discussion or quiz questions, outlines for slide presentations, analogies, anecdotes, jokes or whatever else might help you create engaging sessions.Tip: Ask it to generate multiple possible approaches and instruct it to be surprising, creative and to create intriguing, unexpected materials.* Get assistance on hobby projects. Whether you’re putting together an outline for fan fiction, a visitor’s guide to your plant collection, or an onboarding guide for a new volunteer or club member, you can save hours with Claude’s project assistance.30+ more ways to use Claude ProjectsI created a project with Claude so it could help me dream up a collection of ideas for surprising ways to use Claude Projects.Prompting TipsIn addition to uploading relevant documents, provide detailed instructions about the kinds of responses that will be useful for you. For example, if you set up a project to assist you with a class aimed at students at a particular grade or skill level, note that so that responses will take that level into account. Additional tips:* Define your target tone. Ask Claude to adopt a casual tone or to be concise and direct in its responses or to use whatever style of language you prefer.* Assign a role. Ask Claude to respond to your prompts from the perspective of an expert in your specific industry or job.* Remind Claude to go slow. For complex tasks that have multiple parts, tell Claude to "think step-by-step" and ask it to "explain your reasoning” to ensure it takes into full account the materials and details you’ve shared.Caveats* Claude can’t generate images like ChatGPT Pro or Microsoft’s free Copilot.* The steep $20/month charge only seems worthwhile if you use Projects. Claude’s top model is now available, albeit for limited use, in its free plan. So if you’re just interested in occasional isolated queries, there’s no need to pay.* You can’t upload links into Claude as you can with some AI tools that will parse them for you. Nor can you upload video or audio files, though you can upload transcripts of those files.Alternatives* NotebookLM is a useful free Google tool that lets you create notebooks with your own documents you can then query with AI. Here’s my guide. It’s a great free alternative to Claude if your goal is to observe patterns in your documents or explore connections with your materials. But Claude provides Claude provides a richer, fuller chat interaction based on documents you upload than NotebookLM.* Perplexity lets you create Pages based on search queries to organize summary material on topics you’re exploring. Helpfully, the information you curate in Pages includes citations, so you can trace the info back to its original sources. Rather than deriving these pages from your own material, though, Perplexity’s Pages assist you in organizing information its provided through its AI-powered searches. Get full access to Wonder Tools at wondertools.substack.com/subscribe