7 Free AI Productivity Tools I Use Every Day

Summary

The video script discusses the integration of AI tools into daily life to enhance productivity and efficiency. The speaker shares their personal experience with seven AI tools that they use regularly, including Arc browser for efficient tab management and split view windows, Perplexity as a search engine for quick answers, and Notion for organizing information. The script also highlights five bonus tools such as Text.com for unified message management, Missive for AI email assistance, Canva for graphic design, and Chat GPT for brainstorming. Additionally, the speaker briefly introduces other AI tools like Forms.app, Otter for meeting transcriptions, Humata for document summarization, Recast for audio summaries of articles, Gamma for AI-generated presentations and websites, and Futupedia.com for AI tool updates. The summary emphasizes the transformative impact of AI on simplifying tasks and improving overall workflow.

Takeaways

• 🚀 **Arc Browser & Perplexity**: The combination of Arc browser and Perplexity as a search engine provides a more organized and efficient way to manage tabs and bookmarks, with AI-powered categorization and a clean interface.
• 📚 **Notion as a Second Brain**: Notion serves as a central hub for information storage and organization, acting as a 'second brain' where all tools for capturing and processing information come together.
• 📧 **Text Management with Text.com**: Text.com consolidates messages from various social media and messaging platforms into a unified inbox, enhancing privacy and efficiency with AI-assisted drafting and summarization.
• 💌 **Email Management with Missive**: Missive, integrated with OpenAI, streamlines email management with features like quick creation, reply, grammar fix, and team collaboration tools.
• 🎨 **Graphic Design with Canva**: Canva simplifies graphic design for social media, presentations, and infographics, offering AI features for template creation and resizing, saving significant time over traditional design software.
• 💡 **Chat GPT for Brainstorming**: Chat GPT is frequently used for brainstorming, providing an outlet to bounce ideas off of and think creatively, even if the suggestions aren't always perfect.
• 📝 **Forms and Surveys with Forms.app**: Forms.app allows easy creation of attractive forms, surveys, and quizzes with AI assistance in generating and customizing the content.
• 📋 **Meeting Assistance with Otter**: Otter is an AI meeting assistant that records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings, allowing for searchable text and focused participation without the need for personal note-taking.
• 📖 **Document Analysis with Humata**: Humata simplifies reading and extracting information from complex documents, offering summarization, comparison, and citation linking for improved productivity and comprehension.
• 📰 **Article Summaries with Recast**: Recast converts articles into audio summaries in a conversational format, making it an innovative way to consume written content on the go.
• 🌐 **Website and Document Creation with Gamma**: Gamma uses AI to design presentations, documents, and web pages with all text and images generated quickly, offering a fast and easy solution for those without design or coding skills.
• 📰 **Staying Updated with Futurpedia**: Futurpedia.com provides weekly recommendations and a newsletter for the latest AI tools news and tutorials, helping users stay informed and leverage AI effectively.

Q & A

What is the primary goal of using AI tools in daily life according to the speaker?

The primary goal is to increase productivity, simplify and automate tedious tasks, and incorporate tools that save time and can be effectively used in the real world.

What are the key features of the Arc browser that the speaker finds beneficial?

Key features include a vertical sidebar for bookmarks and tabs, AI-powered tab sorting, customizable workspaces, split view windows, picture-in-picture for YouTube, and renaming downloaded files based on content.

How does Perplexity as a search engine differ from traditional search engines like Google?

Perplexity searches the internet for the user, condenses the findings into a short page, provides answers with source links, related media, and suggested questions, offering a more personalized and accurate research experience.

What role does Notion play in the speaker's productivity system?

Notion serves as the central hub, or 'second brain', where all information is stored, organized, and processed. It's used extensively for content creation, note-taking, and managing various workflows.

How does Text.com help in managing messages across different platforms?

Text.com consolidates messages from various social media and messaging platforms into a unified inbox, allowing users to manage all their messages in one place, with AI-assisted drafting, summaries, and translations.

What is the main advantage of using Missive as an AI email assistant?

Missive helps users achieve inbox zero by quickly creating and replying to emails, fixing grammar and spelling errors, translating messages, and offering team collaboration features.

How does Canva with its AI features assist in graphic design tasks?

Canva simplifies the creation of social media graphics, presentations, and infographics. Its AI features allow for custom template creation from text prompts, automatic resizing and optimization of designs, and assistance with editing and enhancing visuals.

What is the primary use of Chat GPT for the speaker?

The speaker primarily uses Chat GPT for brainstorming, as it provides a platform to bounce ideas off of and think out of the box, even if the ideas generated aren't perfect.

How does Forms.app assist in creating forms, surveys, and quizzes?

Forms.app uses AI to quickly generate forms, surveys, and quizzes. It allows users to modify fields, add new ones, switch themes, and preview how the form looks on different devices.

What is Otter's role as an AI meeting assistant?

Otter records and transcribes meetings, allowing users to search the text, playback audio at adjustable speeds, highlight key points, and review automated slide captures, which helps in staying focused during meetings without the need to take notes.

How does Humata help in extracting valuable information from complex files?

Humata simplifies reading and extracting information from complex files by summarizing findings, comparing documents, searching within files, and providing citation links, which enhances productivity and comprehension of research materials.

What is the unique feature of Recast that sets it apart from traditional article consumption?

Recast turns online articles into audio summaries in a conversational format, generating a dialogue between virtual hosts that explain and discuss key points, offering a podcast-like experience for on-the-go article consumption.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Embracing AI for Productivity and Real-World Applications

The speaker discusses the evolution of AI beyond the hype, emphasizing the need for practical tools that enhance productivity and real-world utility. They share their personal experience with AI tools that have transformed their workflow, mentioning initial resistance to change but eventual appreciation for the efficiency gains. The paragraph highlights the use of Arc browser and Perplexity as a powerful combination for web browsing and search, praising features like vertical sidebars, AI-sorted tabs, and split view windows. The integration of Perplexity as a search engine is also discussed, which provides concise, accurate answers through a process called retrieval augmented generation.

05:01

🚀 Streamlining Workflow with Notion and Message Management

The speaker delves into their use of Notion as a central hub for information storage, likening it to a 'second brain.' They describe how Notion is integrated into their content creation process, from research and note-taking to scriptwriting and video planning. The paragraph also touches on the use of Text.com and Missive for managing messages and emails efficiently, underlining the time-saving benefits and AI capabilities of these tools, such as automated responses and team collaboration. Canva is mentioned as a go-to tool for quick and easy graphic design, with AI features that enhance the design process.

10:03

🤖 Leveraging AI for Content Creation and Idea Generation

The speaker details their daily use of various AI tools, with a focus on Chat GPT for brainstorming and idea generation. They highlight the value of having an AI tool to bounce ideas off and how it aids in thinking more creatively. The paragraph also introduces several AI tools that the speaker has tested and found useful for different audiences, including Form.app for creating forms and surveys, Otter for transcribing meetings, Humata for summarizing complex documents, Recast for converting articles into audio summaries, and Gamma for designing presentations and websites. Each tool is briefly explained, emphasizing their unique AI-driven features and potential applications.

15:03

📰 Keeping Up with AI Trends and Tools

The speaker wraps up by recommending Futurpedia.com for weekly AI tool recommendations and a newsletter that delivers news and tutorials on leveraging AI. They express gratitude to the viewers for watching and signal the end of the video with a promise to see them in the next one. This paragraph serves as a call to action for continuous learning and staying updated with AI advancements.

Keywords

💡AI Tools

AI Tools refer to software applications that utilize artificial intelligence to automate tasks, enhance productivity, or provide new capabilities. In the video, the speaker discusses various AI tools they use daily, emphasizing their role in simplifying and automating tedious tasks, thus increasing overall efficiency.

💡Productivity

Productivity is the efficiency of an individual or system in converting input into desired output. The video's theme revolves around using AI tools to boost productivity, with examples given such as time saved through automation and the streamlining of information management.

💡Arc Browser

Arc Browser is a modern web browser with integrated AI features designed to improve the user's browsing experience. It is highlighted in the video for its unique sidebar for bookmarks and tabs, AI-powered tab organization, and split view windows, which contribute to a more organized and clutter-free workspace.

💡Perplexity

Perplexity is an advanced search engine that uses AI to condense search results into a concise summary page, acting as a personal AI research assistant. It is mentioned as a significant time saver and a preferred starting point for the speaker when seeking answers online.

💡Notion

Notion is a productivity and information management tool that serves as a central hub for organizing and storing information, often referred to as a 'second brain'. In the context of the video, Notion is used for content creation, idea generation, and managing various aspects of the speaker's workflow.

💡Text Management

Text Management involves the efficient handling of messages across different platforms. The video discusses tools like text.com that aggregate messages from social media, email, and other communication apps into a unified inbox, making it easier to manage and respond to messages in a centralized location.

💡AI Email Assistant

An AI Email Assistant is a tool that uses AI to help manage email more efficiently, by creating, replying to emails, fixing grammar and spelling errors, and even customizing responses. Missive is an example mentioned in the video, which stands out for its team collaboration features and integration with OpenAI.

💡Graphic Design

Graphic Design refers to the process of visual communication and problem-solving through the use of typography, photography, and illustration. Canva, as discussed in the video, is a tool that simplifies the creation of graphics for social media, presentations, and other marketing materials, with AI features that assist in resizing and reformatting designs.

💡Chat GPT

Chat GPT, or Chatbot GPT, is a language model AI that can generate human-like text based on prompts. It is used in the video for brainstorming, providing critiques, and generating ideas, showcasing its utility in creative and problem-solving tasks.

💡Forms and Surveys

Forms and Surveys are tools used for collecting information from respondents. The video mentions apps like Forms.app, which use AI to quickly generate forms, surveys, and quizzes. These tools are valuable for gathering feedback, conducting polls, or disseminating knowledge in an interactive format.

💡AI Meeting Assistant

An AI Meeting Assistant, such as Otter mentioned in the video, is a tool that records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings. It allows users to search through transcriptions, play back audio, and review key points, which can greatly enhance the efficiency of meeting management and follow-up.

Highlights

AI tools are increasingly integrated into daily life to increase productivity and simplify tasks.

The speaker initially resisted AI tools but found them indispensable after trying them.

Arc browser with Perplexity as the default search engine offers a more organized and efficient browsing experience.

Arc browser's vertical sidebar and AI-powered tab sorting provide significant quality of life improvements.

Split view windows in Arc browser allow for easier multitasking and better use of screen space.

Perplexity's retrieval augmented generation provides faster, more accurate answers than traditional search engines.

Notion serves as a central hub, or 'second brain', for information storage and productivity.

Text.com consolidates messages from various social media and messaging platforms into a unified inbox.

Masive integrates with OpenAI for efficient email creation, reply, and team collaboration.

Canva is a time-saving tool for graphic design, with AI features for template creation and resizing.

Chat GPT is frequently used for brainstorming and idea generation, providing valuable feedback and suggestions.

Forms.app is an easy-to-use tool for creating attractive forms, surveys, and quizzes with AI assistance.

Otter is an AI meeting assistant that records, transcribes, and allows for searchable text of meetings.

Humata simplifies the extraction of valuable information from complex documents.

Recast turns online articles into audio summaries in a conversational format, enhancing information retention.

Gamma allows users to design presentations, documents, and web pages with AI-generated text and images.

Futurpedia.com offers weekly recommendations and a newsletter for the latest AI tools news and tutorials.

The speaker emphasizes the transformative impact of AI tools on personal and professional efficiency.

Transcripts

with AI I think most people are past the

hype of using or paying for tools that

are basically just Cool Tech demos we

want tools to incorporate into our lives

to save time be more productive or

actually use in the real world this is

that list I'm going to cover the seven

AI tools I use every day to increase my

productivity simplify and automate

tedious tasks and just get more done

there's a few of these I was resistant

to at first because sometimes you just

get comfortable doing things the way you

always have but then I'd finally try

them and have no idea how I ever lived

without them there's also five bonus

tools at the end that don't apply

directly to what I do so I don't use

them every day but I research and test a

ton of tools for this Channel and

they're some of the most useful I've

come across for the people that need

them I'll start with Arc browser then

perplexity which I have set up as the

default search engine within Arc after

using this combo for a while going back

to using Chrome or Safari to search

something using Google feels like using

a flip phone a couple major quality of

life improvements you notice right away

is first off the vertical sidebar for

all your bookmarks and tabs it's way

easier to organize this way and doesn't

have that ugly look of 20 tabs up top

like every other browser at least if

you're a tab hoarder like me you can

hide the sidebar then it will pop back

open when you hover so you always have a

clean look then if you start to have too

many tabs open you click this little

broom button and it will use AI to

analyze and sort them into categories

you can also create different spaces for

or profiles or between work personal and

school or by interest and if you open up

a tab that fits into a different profile

you can just drag it over there overall

there's way more options for

organization and having your workspace

just never feel cluttered is really nice

then the split view windows is huge just

drag a tab out and it automatically

jumps into split view then it will

resize them automatically as you drag so

much better than switching between tabs

or using separate windows that are weird

to resize in a similar realm if you're

watching a YouTube video and click on

another tab it automatically switches to

picture in picture this is already a

feature in phones so I don't know why no

other browser has implemented that and

just those features right there are such

game changers and now that I've used

them it seems insane that no one ever

thought of them before there's some

other cool stuff too like it will rename

downloaded files based on content or it

will show link previews when hovering

over a link there's great keyboard

shortcuts you can screenshot or screen

capture the full page natively and these

built-in easel which are a whiteboard

like for taking notes drawing and

collaborating and they're always adding

new stuff they have a big focus on

customization you can toggle on and off

features you like or don't like so

they're already integrated with a ton of

AI features and made the experience much

more modern and fast but they also

partnered with perplexity and you can

set it to your default search engine

that takes the whole thing to the next

level so perplexity is a much faster way

to get from question to answer I'll type

in the search bar what are the key

benefits of Arc browser all right

instead of of a list of links to go

through perplexity basically searches

the internet for you and condenses what

it found all into a short page like a

personal AI research assistant I have an

answer links to the sources that used to

get that answer then some media like

related images and videos and suggested

questions to continue the conversation

with just a click using sources to

formulate its responses cuts down on

hallucinations significantly it's called

retrieval augmented generation and it

will tend to be more accurate than just

asking chat GPT and it does all the

extremely fast in a really clean

interface with no ads so I use it on the

web and the mobile app every day there

are some really nice additional benefits

if you use the paid version like access

to different Advanced llms so you can

switch between GPT 4 and CLA and llama

and mixol you can look into all that if

you really like it but the free version

is amazing too perplexity is the first

place I go when I have a question before

Google before chat gbt or anywhere else

next up is notion generally in any

productivity system or in information

gathering system you'll have some sort

of central Hub where all your

information gets stored often referred

to as your second brain which is a

perfect term so how I think about this

is you have the mind machine and Method

so the machine is all these tools for

capturing and processing information

then the mind for it all to live in and

various workflows and methods to process

and get it all there in my system I have

notion as the mind they would have been

included in this either way but they did

also sponsor this video thank you notion

let's do a couple examples I'm always

search searching for new AI tools to

test and information to save basically

the only reason I have Twitter I've seen

a bunch of posts about this arill Avatar

tool I don't have time to experiment

right now but I want to make sure I have

it saved so I have my AI knowledge base

in notion as a pinned tab in Arc so I'll

drag that tab into split view open up

the Avatar folder then copy it in there

having all this stuff as just bookmarks

gets really difficult to navigate I keep

it all in here to remember to read later

or to reference if I'm making a video

also I have my whole content creation

workspace in here so I'll open up the

YouTube folder and do a quick tour I

have video ideas built into almost every

page so I can always see what's in

progress what's upcoming or be able to

jot down a quick idea at any time

there's resources sponsors ideas to-dos

and things to improve whether that's

critiques people leave in the comments

which are often valid although not

always worded constructively or my own

criticisms of myself which aren't always

worded constructively either I suppose

we don't need to open that one let's

open up the video ideas then

productivity tools it's got the sponsor

as notion then it starts as research and

notes where I dump everything but in an

organized manner so here's how I do that

I know I'm going to include Arc so I'll

use this prompt in perplexity summarize

Arc browser in one sentence then give me

a bulleted list of the key features then

a list of sources I can use for further

research boom now I can copy that into

notion then turn everything into a

collapsible section with a drop- down

arrow so I can do that for every tool

and then move them around delete the

ones I test and don't like add notes on

them and then it starts to form an

outline and then I will steadily work

that into a

script and then I'll throw title and

thumbnail ideas in here throughout the

process then there's some checklists to

make sure I get everything taken care of

during the load process I can't Deep

dive into the whole setup but I also

love that notion has AI integrated

throughout it's really helpful say I'm

working on the script here I'll

highlight a section what is a good

analogy for this or I'll have it

reformat paragraphs into bullet points a

lot notion is really powerful there's

all sorts of automations you can do you

can collaborate any page you create you

can share as a website it's endless but

I'll just leave it at what I spend the

most time using it for which is content

creation and thought it would be helpful

to show how all these tools can work

together the method

I have two message management apps that

are huge timesavers for messages across

every app besides email texts.com is one

of these that's just been a GameChanger

so I have a lot of social media accounts

and I try to avoid spending time on

these platforms for the most part so

instead of going from Twitter to

Instagram to Discord and just forgetting

that LinkedIn even exists text.com

brings them all into one place so I can

just dedicate a block of time and bust

through all of it and avoid any of the

algorithms it includes the non-

algorithm-based apps like slack and

WhatsApp and everything else too and

since it's all private DMS I'd have to

blur out basically my whole screen to

show it so I'm going to cover it quick

basically it's one Unified Inbox for all

your apps it has AI integrated so you

can easily draft responses with chat GPT

get automated summaries and translations

the inbox is also just really organized

where you can search messages or pin

important conversations to the top

there's stuff like send later keyboard

shortcuts a customizable UI and a ton

other features that make it just way

better another great part that needs to

mention is their focus on privacy so

they ensure endtoend encryption of your

messages and send them directly to the

messaging platforms so they never touch

the text.com servers like a digital post

office and this is the only tool on the

list that you don't get much in the free

plan you can only link a couple accounts

it's $15 per month to be able to link

them all I thought it was still worth a

mention because it is a huge timesaver

and I haven't found a good free option

the other big part of this is managing

email which can also be overwhelming and

timec consuming so using an AI email

assistant can help you get to inbox zero

this is another one where I didn't want

to show Private emails so I'm using

other Clips instead of blurring

everything missive is integrated with

open AI so you can quickly create and

reply to emails fix grammar and spelling

errors translate messages and even

customize the AI to your specific needs

using your own prompts one aspect that

stands out with missive over some of the

others is the team integration it's

great for collaborating you can share

custom prompts with your team the the

ability to collaborate around important

emails with your team easily instead of

forwarding and writing back and forth or

jumping into slack or something is

really nice and you do get a lot with

the free version canva is the ultimate

timesaver for all sorts of graphic

design like social media Graphics

presentations and infographics marketing

materials educational materials it's

amazing how easy it makes it like for my

video about Ai mobile apps I needed a

graphic showing all the apps in their

various categories so I jumped into can

and made it really easily in that same

video I needed one for the difference

between chat GPT and Microsoft co-pilot

features I couldn't find a good-looking

one online anywhere so I Just Whipped

one up in canva and it looked awesome it

would take a crazy amount of time for me

to make something half as good in

Photoshop or illustrator and I've been

using those platforms for over a decade

and that already sped things up a ton

but they have a bunch of AI features

rolled out as well where you can create

custom templates from a text prompt if

you have a design you need to resize to

a different aspect ratio it will analyze

and resize it in the best way there's an

AI writing assistant Magic Eraser magic

replace and Magic edit honestly canva

has saved me an immeasurable amount of

time and you can do a ton of this all

for free but you will come across some

templates and Graphics that are only

included in the Pro Plan then there is

of course chat GPT I assume 99% of the

people watching use chat GPT or another

llm already if not I have basically a

full course that I uploaded for free

here on YouTube that goes over every

feature and how to utilize and Implement

them into your work and life so feel

free to check that out I use it for a

lot but the thing that's my most

frequent use of all is brainstorming

having someone or something I guess to

bounce ideas off of is huge even if the

ideas it gives back aren't perfect it

helps to think out of the box and spur

on more thoughts I've run pretty much

everything through chaty PT to ask for

critiques sometimes I take the advice

sometimes I don't but it's almost always

helpful then of course there's a

thousand other things to use it for

those are all the apps I use every day

now I want to cover some more tools that

are awesome but I don't have as much

personal experience with since they

don't apply to what I do there's so many

AI tools that come out all the time and

most people don't have the time to sift

through and test them all out but this

is what I do every day so I want to just

show some of the other most useful tools

I've tested that can hopefully be

helpful to someone out there forms.

apppp is an easy way to create really

nice looking forms surveys and quizzes

that could be a customer feedback survey

contact form or a quiz for a trivia

night or to send to your co-workers or

followers it's really easy to use

customer feedback form about my

bakery now it really quickly uses AI to

generate the whole thing then I can

modify it from there so I'll add an

image up

top then I can switch the theme

out I like that

one now I can modify any field I can

have ai rewrite them or add any new

fields and options I want and that looks

nice now I can see how that looks on a

tablet or on mobile that was really easy

so let's try a quiz two 10 question quiz

about generative AI

knowledge and boom we've got all our

questions I'll test out an animated

theme that looks pretty

cool once your quiz or form is ready you

can connect it to all sorts of

applications you can share it with their

web link or by embedding it then there's

various ways to view the responses this

makes it super easy to create all this

so if that's something you need you can

try it out for free there's plans to

upgrade based on your usage definitely a

huge timesaver otter is an AI meeting

assistant it can record and transcribe

your meetings in person or on Zoom

Google meet and Microsoft teams then you

can search the text to play back the

audio at adjustable speeds then tap the

words to jump to different spots it can

highlight key points to review later has

automated slide capture it will insert

into the notes I've tested it and it

works great and should be super helpful

if you have a lot of meetings to be able

to review them but also to be able to

stay focused and attentive during the

meeting instead of having to take your

own notes humata simplifies the process

of reading and extracting valuable

information from complex files you can

summarize findings compare documents

search for answers within files and

provide citation links so it's a

powerful tool for enhancing productivity

for improving comprehension of research

materials for uncovering insights in

documents and historical data and Trends

one of their taglines is a good way to

summarize this asking is faster than

skimming recast allows you to turn

online articles into audio summaries in

a conversational format so you upload

any article news or blog post and it

will use AI to generate a back and forth

dialogue between virtual hosts they

explain and discuss key points of the

article so it sounds just like a podcast

it's a pretty cool way to listen to

articles on the go and can be helpful

for retention to hear it as a

conversation today's interesting news is

about open AI CEO Sam Altman and Joanie

IV who was Apple's design Chief the two

have teamed up to create an AI powered

personal device and are currently

seeking funding we don't know much about

the device yet except that it won't

resemble a smartphone given that Altman

is a big investor in the Humane AI pin

with gamma you can use AI to design

engaging presentations documents and web

pages with all the text and images

generated in under a minute this is a

demo website I made in a previous video

I asked for a landing page of a tattoo

shop and got the entire site made with

all the copy and it generated all the

images in around 30 seconds then I

quickly customized the theme and

regenerated images where I wanted then

asked the AI assistant to rewrite a

section and this was the result and you

can publish to a gamma do site or your

own custom domain for people that don't

have any design or coding skills this is

the quickest way to spin up a website

that you can fully update and edit on

your own it works just as well for

presentations and documents too then I

guess the bonus bonus is futur

pedia.com

recommendations every week while you're

there you can sign up for the newsletter

and get AI tools news and tutorials

delivered directly to your inbox

alongside over 200,000 others that are

learning to leverage AI in their

personal creative and professional lives

thank you so much for watching I'll see

you in the next one