Your phone camera is an AI cheat code This week one of my plants developed what I can only describe as a rapidly expanding patchwork of yellow blobs on the soil. Instead of spiraling down a Google rabbit hole, I took a photo and sent it to Claude, and it immediately diagnosed it as dog vomit slime mold (which is a real thing that exists). Not only did it tell me what it was, but it also told me why it appeared and what to do: Scoop it out, let the soil dry, don't bother with fungicide since it's not actually a fungus (my plant is fine). Pointing your camera at something and asking AI a question applies to a lot of things that have nothing to do with slime mold. Here are some other good everyday use cases: - What's in the fridge? Photograph what you have inside and ask for recipe ideas based on what it sees. It'll identify ingredients and suggest what to make—just be ready to correct it if it "spots" something that isn't there.
- That mysterious charge. Take a photo or screenshot of just that one transaction and ask what it is.
- The room or cupboard you've been avoiding. Photograph the chaos and ask it to break the cleanup into manageable steps—it'll assess what it sees and give you a specific, realistic plan. (Just be mindful of what is in the frame; a photo of your desk with personal documents scattered around is not ideal.)
As always, treat your AI’s first response as a starting point—push back, correct details it gets wrong, and go deeper where you need to. It's not a one-shot oracle; it's a thinking partner. —SM Have a question about using AI—for work, life, or anything in between? Let us know. Nothing is too basic or too ambitious. | 
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