EP. 166 AI Use Today

·1 hr 2 min·3 clips

Copilot helped parse roughly 1,200 survey responses and drive new career-development initiatives at ASML.

1. How To Hobby Podcast episode 166 focuses on AI use today, especially how Jon Power and Sean Bennett use it at work and at home. 2. Jon Power hosts the show, and Sean Bennett co-hosts as a senior mechanical engineer at ASML, the San Diego company that makes machines for microchips. 3. The episode asks what AI is useful for right now, and the answer centers on efficiency, research, and faster decision-making. 4. Sean says the three common forms are conversational tools like ChatGPT and Copilot, image generation, and automation of reports and insights. 5. He contrasts early AI expectations with today's large language models, which he describes as capable of conversational tone and internet or database access. 6. Jon and Sean discuss image generation by comparing older outputs to modern ones, including the long-running reference to Will Smith eating spaghetti. 7. Sean says modern AI-generated videos on Instagram can be hard to distinguish from real recordings, which shows how far image tools have advanced. 8. They also talk about AI for data work, where Sean says it can summarize complex data sets and surface actionable insights. 9. Sean describes ASML's concern about confidential drawings and says the company brought in an offline Microsoft Copilot instead of a fully connected tool. 10. He says the offline setup still allows Word-doc-based aggregation while blocking drawings and direct internet leakage. 11. Sean's strongest example is the mechanical development survey project, where 12 questions produced about 1,200 responses that were too much for a volunteer committee to parse manually. 12. He says Copilot helped identify common themes, outliers, and patterns, and those findings were turned into Word documents and PowerPoint slides for management. 13. Sean says the survey work contributed to new initiatives, including manager panels and other career-growth changes inside the department. 14. Another practical use is rewriting emotional emails and Teams messages, where he drafts an angry version first and then asks Copilot to make it more professional. 15. Sean also uses AI for Toastmasters table topics, asking for 12 prompts tied to a theme like summer or hobbies for weekly impromptu speeches. 16. Jon adds that he uses an internal tool called Galileo, and he leans on it for engineering questions like checking the Tg of materials for a heated 3D-printed fixture. 17. The tone stays conversational and practical, with Jon and Sean riffing back and forth about bags, travel, engineering work, and what AI can or cannot do well. 18. The format mixes personal examples, workplace case studies, and caution about bias, dependence on data, and the black-box nature of AI systems. 19. Engineers, analysts, and curious hobbyists who want real AI use cases will get the most value from this episode. 20. Listeners wanting a purely technical AI deep dive or a formal interview may skip it.

As heard by us

A loose Friday chat that lands on a practical example of AI at work.

How To Hobby turns a Friday catch-up into a practical look at AI in ordinary workplace use, moving from Japan prep and packing-cube stress to a concrete example of sorting through roughly 1,200 survey responses.

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Listen for a workplace Copilot story, not a hype reel.

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