Hayz Labs · https://hayzlabs.com/guides/
44 guides · sorted by last change
Guides
One question each, answered with steps you can follow. Each guide lists its changes at the end, so you can see what moved since you last read it.
- Entries
- 44
- Last change
- 20 Oct 2026
- Beginner
- 26
- Intermediate
- 10
- Advanced
- 8
Open-source AI tools: one pick for each jobEight everyday AI jobs, from chatting with a model on your computer to testing prompts, each with one open-source pick from our Top 20 lists, one alternative, what it needs and how to start.outputAI at the doctor's: the listening scribe, AI-drafted replies, and checking your visit noteWhat to ask when your clinic uses an AI scribe or AI-drafted portal replies, a checklist for reading your visit note, and a copy-paste request to correct a wrong note.prioritiesAI glasses: what do they record, which settings matter, and what can I do if I'm filmed?What camera glasses with a built-in assistant capture and where it goes, an owner's settings check, and what a bystander can do if they are filmed, with the reported privacy problems labelled.prioritiesAn AI answered the phone: how do I reach a person, and should I let an AI call for me?Phrases and steps that get you past an AI receptionist to a person, what to get confirmed in writing, where the law says a bot must say it is a bot, and a short approval list if you let your phone's AI make a call for you.prioritiesCoding agents for people who don't write codeWhat a coding agent is, five safe first projects you can check without reading code, the settings to start with, and a first prompt that keeps you in control.outputConnect your medical records to an AI? A decision and a setup checkA yes or no check for connecting your medical records or health apps to an AI assistant such as ChatGPT Health, a six-item setup check if you go ahead, and a routine to disconnect and delete.prioritiesInterviewed or screened by AI: what to expect, how to prepare, how to ask for a personHow to find out which kind of AI interview you face, a copy-paste email asking what it judges and whether a person can review it, a 10-minute check before you start, and the rules that give some candidates a notice or a human review.prioritiesIs AI coming for my job? A 30-minute task-by-task check and a skills planBreak your job into its real tasks, mark which ones AI does now, helps with or can't do yet, read what the studies actually measured, and pick two skills to practise for 30 days.prioritiesIs the app I made with AI safe to share? A 20-minute check before you send the linkSix checks to run before you send people a link to an app you built with Lovable, Replit, Bolt or a similar builder: what it stores, who can read each table, secret keys, and a test as a stranger.prioritiesKids, homework and a family AI planHouse rules by age, the hints-not-answers setup that avoided the exam drop in one trial, and a one-page family plan to review each term.balanceLetting an agent near your email, browser and filesNever give one agent private data, untrusted content and a way to send things out at once without a person confirming the send. A risk table, a five-rung permission ladder, a plain guide to tools and connectors and an eight-item setup check show how.balanceSomeone made a fake nude or sexual image of me (or my child): what do I do in the first 48 hours?A calm first-hour checklist, an evidence log, which free removal tool fits an adult or a child, and how the US 48-hour removal rule works, as of October 2026.prioritiesSwitching AI assistants: how do I take my history with me?What moves between ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini as of October 2026, where to export from each one, how to bring across only what is still true, and a cancel-day checklist for closing the old account properly.prioritiesTalking to AI when you're struggling: what it can help with, and where it stopsWhat a general assistant is good for when you are stressed, worried or lonely, where it stops, a setup prompt that asks for honesty and real people, and signs it is time to step back.balanceTeaching with AI: how do I plan and give feedback without breaking my school's rules?A weekly routine for teachers who use AI to plan lessons and draft feedback, a student-privacy checklist, and the official guidance behind it from the US and England.prioritiesAds and sponsored answers in AI chats: how to spot them and get a straight recommendationWhere ChatGPT, Google and Copilot place ads and how they are labelled, why an unlabelled answer can still be steered, a prompt that asks for criteria, sources and any paid link, and a worked check.outputAI answers or search results: when to use whichA routing table for quick facts, recent facts and research, a 60-second citation check, and a prompt for assistants that search the web, with three 2025 studies on fewer clicks and wrong citations.outputAI detectors: what they can and can't tell youA detector flag is a guess about a text and no proof about a person; independent tests found false positives and unreliable results, and a 2025 paper found some tools much better, so a flag is a reason to ask.prioritiesAI memory: what it keeps, and a ten-minute auditWhat ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini say they remember across chats, how to see it, and a ten-minute routine to list it, prune it and choose a memory setting for each kind of task.balanceAI voice scams: hang up and call back on a number you knowA call-back rule on a number you already have, a short card for older relatives, and an optional family phrase as an extra check, with the official 2025 advice behind it.prioritiesAI-written phishing: stop looking for typos, set up passkeysScam emails no longer give themselves away with bad spelling. A 20-minute setup that protects your accounts even when you cannot tell a fake from the real thing.outputBuild a small agent yourself: one tool, a step limit and a logAn agent is a model calling tools in a loop. Build the smallest useful one: a read-only search over a folder of notes, a hard limit of six steps, a token and cost tally, a log of every tool call, and answers that must cite their files. Then test it on nine questions, one aimed at a planted instruction.outputBuild an assistant other people will useGive a shared Claude Project, Gemini Gem or skill, or a custom GPT in a work workspace one job, assume anyone who can chat with it can read its instructions and files, and pass a written 15 to 20 question test before anyone relies on it.outputCollege and university applications: what AI use is allowed, and how to use it honestlyWhat the Common App, UCAS and four universities say about AI in application essays, which help is usually fine, a feedback-only prompt, and keeping evidence of your process.outputDescribe the failure: reports an agent can act onTurn 'it's wrong' into a seven-line report that an assistant or an agent can fix in one pass, and a rule for when to stop correcting and start fresh.outputGet data you can trust from an API: schemas, validation and retriesValid JSON, JSON that matches your schema and JSON with the right values are three different things. Let the vendor guarantee the shape, check the values in your own code, retry once with the errors, then hand the item to a person.outputGetting disagreement instead of agreementA standing instruction and five prompt cards that get you criticism instead of applause when you ask an assistant to check a plan, a draft or a decision.outputHealth, money and legal questions: green lights and red linesWhat an assistant can safely do with a health, money or legal question, where you stop, who to ask instead, and how to ask for a person to review a decision software may have made about you.balanceHelp an older relative start using AI, safelyOne sitting together: install the real app, set up the account with 2-step verification, try three tasks that matter to them, and leave a card of rules by the phone. Then check in after a week.prioritiesLearn to code with AI without skipping the learningChatGPT or Claude matters less than how you set it up. Make it a tutor, write each piece yourself first, use it to explain errors and code, and test yourself without it every week.outputLearning with AI without losing the learningThe same kind of tool more than doubled learning gains in one trial and cut exam scores in another. Four setup rules of ours and a checklist, built from those trials, aim for the first.outputLocal or cloud: when a model on your own device is enoughDecide by what the data is and what the task needs, and check by hand whether a model will fit in your computer's memory, using a rule of thumb of about 0.6 GB per billion parameters.balanceMake an image with AI: describe it well, check it, and know what you can use it forA prompt template for posters, slide pictures, illustrations and mockups, one change per edit, a check for text, hands, logos, invented facts and real people, and what the labels, vendor terms and US copyright guidance say.outputPoint your phone at it: what AI can and can't tell you from a photoA traffic light for photo questions: when to trust what your phone's AI says about a plant, a pill, a rash, an error screen or a menu, and what to do instead.outputPrompt, retrieve or fine-tune? Getting a model to use your materialName the problem first. Missing knowledge is fixed by putting your material in front of the model. Wrong format or style is fixed by examples, and only rarely by fine-tuning. Climb one rung at a time and measure each rung on the same 20 questions.outputScript, workflow or agent: how much to automateEight rungs from doing it by hand to an unattended agent, five questions to pick the lowest rung that does the job, and the tasks where a plain script beats a model.outputTalk, then edit: dictation and voice modeSpeak the background and goals, type the exact names and numbers, then check the transcript: what dictation does well, where it invents or drops words, and a prompt that turns a ramble into a brief.outputTaxes with AI: what it can help with, and what you check on the official siteUse an assistant to explain tax terms and letters, list your documents and sort receipts. Keep identity numbers and full returns out of the chat, and check every rule, figure and deadline on irs.gov or GOV.UK for the right tax year.prioritiesThe AI already in your phone, email and office apps: what it reads, and how to turn it up or downWhat the AI built into iPhone, Mac, Gmail, Android, Word and Outlook, Samsung phones, WhatsApp and LinkedIn reads, where it runs, and the setting that turns each one down, as the vendors describe it in October 2026.balanceTranslating with AI: when it's good enough, and how to checkMatch the check to the stakes, prepare the text, and check a translation you cannot read: back-translation, numbers and negations line by line, a second tool, and a speaker for the lines that matter.outputWas this image made or changed by AI? A five-minute checkSix steps to run on a photo, screenshot or video before you share it or act on it: provenance, watermarks, reverse search and the claim itself, and why your eye and AI detectors are not enough.outputWhen not to use AIA six-question card to read before you open the chat box. Any no means doing the task yourself first, then using the assistant as a reviewer, or skipping it.balanceWriting in a second language, or with dyslexiaUse AI as an editor of your own draft, keep your meaning and your voice, and know what to do if a detector flags you.balanceYour first API call, with a spending capSet a hard monthly cap on a separate project before you create a key, keep the key in an environment variable, make one call with curl and Python, and turn the usage fields into a cost. Anthropic and OpenAI side by side, Gemini in one line.output
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