POD! On YIMBY Pod this week, I talk more about TfL’s potential countdown to disaster, and then we speak to transport consultant Jon Worth all about his epic rail journey from northern Finland to southern Portugal – and what it tells us about the state of European rail integration. Listen here, or wherever you get your pods!
Reading my AI post from a year ago feels like looking back at life in the Stone Age.
Last December, I wrote a surprisingly popular piece about how AI has made my life better. It was my attempt to describe in practical terms how I was using the technology on a day-to-day basis, to try and explain to doubters and sceptics why this really is a big deal.
A couple of months later, in February, I then wrote a follow-up post – this time focused on my early adventures in vibecoding – the act of having the AI write software for you. In that piece, I described how I’d built a bunch of tools that are useful for my work, such as an app to help me manage my invoices, and another to help me collate links for my Odds and Ends links newsletters.
And though I have written about AI a lot since then, I haven’t really said much more about how I’m using AI today, in autumn 2026. Because, for me, over the last year, it has definitely transformed from being something that’s extremely useful, to something I can’t really imagine living without.
Today, ChatGPT is the app I click on first when opening up my laptop, and it’s often my first port of call on my phone too.
So I thought it was time for a check-in. Here’s how I’m using AI today, and I’m going to tell you about the nine most interesting things I’ve used it for lately, including:
How I’ve obtained god-like powers.
How AI has saved Christmas already.
The single-purpose app that has removed a major friction from my life.
What I think could be a genuinely wholesome use of the tech for saving history.
And (most importantly), how AI has helped me settle a 20-year-old score.
Now let’s get started!
Binformation Technology
If you watch enough ultra-nerdy tech videos on YouTube, eventually you’ll notice a certain phrase that keeps being used - the ‘wife acceptance factor’. Sometimes the presenter will pretend it is a gender-neutral thing, and reference instead a ‘spouse acceptance factor’, but the reality is that the entire scene is almost entirely bald or balding, heterosexual, middle-aged men. We are legion.
I mention this because I thought I’d start by telling you about the AI intervention I’ve made that has won the highest approval of my partner, Liz. I’ve built a bins app.