Stop chatting, start doing: 5 AI tools that aren’t just another ChatGPT

The only AI most people know are chatbots like ChatGPT, but the tech is so much more than that. Artificial intelligence powers a lot of different tools and services that allow us to do a lot more than just chat and create funny images with our favorite chatbot.

AI is all about getting things done faster, more efficiently, and with less mental input. From editing videos without any technical knowledge whatsoever to getting a transcript of a meeting without lifting a finger, here are the best AI tools that you should use that aren’t just another version of ChatGPT.

I really wish this tool existed back when I was in college, as it would have made life a lot easier for me. What it does is provide a full transcript of any meeting you want, whether it’s online or in person. Just click record when the meeting starts and you’ll see a live transcription right in front of you.

Once the meeting is over, Otter will summarize it for you and prepare a list of action items, if they were discussed during the call. What’s even more interesting is that you can connect it to your Google Calendar, and Otter will join meetings via popular tools like Zoom and Google Meet on your behalf and will then provide you with a full transcript alongside a summary and the rest of the details.

Once the transcript is ready, you can use the chat function to ask specific questions about a meeting, so you can pull up answers quickly without going through the whole thing manually. It basically works similarly to NotebookLM, which pulls data on request.

Otter is great for online business meetings, college lectures, and even in-person conversations. All you have to do is press the record button and let AI handle the rest. It’s free to use but you’re capped at 300 minutes of transcription per month. If that’s not enough for you, pricing starts at around $8 per month.

This AI tool is owned by Dropbox and is all about helping you reclaim your time. It connects to your Google or Outlook calendar and automatically finds a slot for your tasks and habits without you having to do it manually.

For example, let’s say you have a habit of exercising every day during the week. Just add in the habit, specify a time range, and how long each session should last. Reclaim will then find an appropriate slot for it based on your other activities planned for the week and schedule it. 

If something more important comes up, like a meeting that’s scheduled at the same time as your workout, Reclaim will automatically move the workout to a new slot. The tool basically helps you make a schedule and adjusts things as you go along, so you don’t have to manage your calendar manually. You can even create scheduling links for other people to book meetings with you, and the AI tool will find available slots automatically and adjust them based on new calendar entries you may add.

The tool is free, but has limits in place — as they all do — including the ability to only schedule things for a week in advance. If that’s not good enough for you, you’ll have to upgrade to one of the paid plans, which start at $10 per month.

Imagine you make a video for your website or a product you’re promoting, a YouTube vlog, or a presentation for work, and are not happy with the way the video turns out. Editing it is a time-consuming process since you generally have to re-record parts of it and then add it to the video. Descript solves this problem and speeds up the editing process.

Here’s how it works: You upload a video and Descript will create a transcript for you. You can then just delete a whole sentence or paragraph from the transcript, and the AI tool will edit the whole thing out of the video. You can even prompt it to remove all the filler words like “um” and “uh,” change the background, and cut out long pauses.

What’s even more interesting is that if you’re reading a script while recording the video, Descript will edit it so that it looks like you’re looking straight into the camera instead of at the script on the side. You can even add in a few sentences you forgot to say by typing them into the transcript, and the AI will add them to the video, mimicking your voice. This means you can significantly improve the quality of the video within just a few minutes, without any tedious manual editing or re-recording.

Descript is free, but the plan is limited to 60 minutes of video per month, among other things. If you want more features, you’ll have to go with one of the paid plans that start at $16 per month.

Readwise Reader is an app that stores all your reading materials in one place. This includes articles from the web, PDFs, ePub files, and even newsletters. When it comes to web posts, the app strips away all the excess, like ads and popups, to provide you with a clean reading experience.

Then the AI kicks in. You can highlight specific sentences or paragraphs of text and have the app explain them in more detail or simplify them. You can ask questions about long-form content and the AI will bring up the answer without you having to manually go through hundreds of pages.

What’s interesting is that the app also serves as an RSS reader. You can subscribe to the sources you follow and read new posts right in the app. With the help of AI, you can get a quick summary of a post or ask specific questions on topics you didn’t fully grasp. It’s great, as you don’t have to open a separate app or start a Google search to get an answer to what you’re looking for.

The app is free for 30 days after you sign up, after which you’ll need a Readwise subscription that goes for $9.99 per month. However, keep in mind that the app is still in public beta, so you may encounter a few issues here and there.

I’ve been on my own fitness journey for a few weeks now, trying to get a bit leaner. Exercising is not a problem for me, but the diet does pose a bit of an issue. The main reason is that I have to track my calories, and doing it manually takes time.

Here’s where Cal AI comes in. The app lets me take a picture of my meal and, using AI, it will figure out all the different foods on my plate, estimate the portion size, and log the calorie count for each one. This significantly speeds up the process, saving me time and energy. Because honestly, tracking calories manually is an extremely tedious process.

Sure, tracking manually is more precise, but Cal AI generally isn’t too far off. Besides its AI-powered calorie counter, it’s also a fitness app that helps you set up your goals, whether it’s losing fat or gaining muscle, so you basically have everything in one place.

As you would expect, the app isn’t free, although a free trial is available. A yearly subscription will set you back around $30.

These are the five AI-powered apps and services I think you should check out, although there are a lot more to choose from. Which ones would you recommend? Let me know in the comments.