Garden · Kitchen · DIY

AI hobbies and free time

AI hasn't been stuck in the office with numbers and charts for a long time. Snap an empty flowerpot and let it recommend a plant, show it the ingredients from your shelf or a plan of the balcony where you want your own bench.

💡 AI sees photos too: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok can read images. Make full use of it with these prompts: snap the shelf with the wood, the wilted leaves of your monstera and the spices you want to use.

🔨 DIY and making

Save yourself needless trips to the DIY store: AI prepares a shopping list and a cutting plan. But measure everything yourself and check the calculations; AI can get its sums wrong.

A cutting plan and a foolproof guide (a DIY weekend) ClaudeGPTGemini

This weekend I want to build [a simple shoe bench from pallets / an outdoor shelter for a stray cat / a made-to-measure bookshelf] myself.

You are a carpenter who teaches complete beginners. I don't want general advice like “measure twice”. I want a specific plan I can follow.

What I have:
- **Tools:** [a cordless drill, a hand saw, a tape measure, a try square]
- **Experience:** [I'm a complete beginner, I've never held a saw]

Your task:
1. **Design and material:** A simple and sturdy design. What exactly should I buy at the DIY store? A shopping list with sizes (e.g. “spruce batten 40 × 40 mm, 2 m long – 3 pieces”, “4 × 40 mm screws – 1 box”).
2. **Cutting plan:** How long the pieces to cut from the long battens should be, with as little waste as possible. Allow for the saw cut (2–3 mm) and check the sums of the lengths.
3. **Steps and the most common mistakes:** Numbered steps in simple sentences. At every step, warn me about the mistake beginners make most often (e.g. that the wood splits without a pilot hole).
4. **Safety:** Safety glasses, clamping the piece, and with pallets take only ones marked HT (heat-treated), not MB (chemically treated).

🌱 Botany and houseplants

A rescuer of yellow leaves and a garden architect in one. The sharper the photo (the whole plant, a leaf close-up, the soil), the more accurate the advice.

Diagnosing a sick plant from a photo GPTGeminiClaudeGrok

I'm sending a photo of my houseplant [Monstera deliciosa / I don't know what plant it is, I got it as a gift].
It's not doing well: [it has yellowing leaves / the tips are drying out].

You are a gardener who helps people rescue houseplants. No dry textbook definitions:
1. **Diagnosis:** What's the main problem you see in the photo (sunburnt, overwatered, a pest)? If the species or the cause can't be told from the photo, say so and tell me what to photograph up close (the underside of a leaf, the roots, the soil).
2. **First aid:** Exactly what to do today so it doesn't get worse (cut off a leaf, repot, move it).
3. **Long-term care:** How often to realistically water, how much light (direct / indirect) and what soil.
4. **Safety:** Is the plant poisonous to cats, dogs or small children?

🧑‍🍳 Advanced cooking and unexpected combinations

Try cooking something completely new with an exotic touch just from what's lying at the back of the cupboard. AI helps you combine ingredients you'd never think of yourself.

Creating an original recipe (a dead end in the fridge) ClaudeGPTGeminiGrok

You are a cook who likes combining unexpected flavours (flavour pairing) and cooks by taste rather than by recipes.

I'm standing at the open fridge and don't know what to cook. Today I want to use only these ingredients: [pasta, minced beef, a lime, honey, a can of coconut milk and peanut butter].
I have the basics (salt, onion, garlic, pepper, oil).

I don't want boring spaghetti with meat. I want an original combination of flavours with an exotic touch (for example in an Asian style) that I'd happily serve to guests too.

Your task:
1. **Name:** A funny and grand name for the dish.
2. **Why it works:** Explain in two sentences why the flavours work together (acidity, sweetness, fat, umami).
3. **Recipe:** Numbered steps with quantities and times. Think about textures, so there's something crunchy and something creamy.
Point out the allergens (peanuts, gluten) and suggest a substitute in case someone with an allergy eats too.