Claude (genai) is smarter than me.

[dern]

I buy a battery for my vfr, it’s the one listed so should fit, bought a Yuasa so it should be good. Doesn’t even vaguely fit, it’s way too tall for the seat to fit, loose in the holder and the terminals are the wrong way round. I google it on owners forum expecting to find loads of owners complaining that the specified battery doesn’t fit and nothing. I fire up Claude and it tells me the battery should fit, it’s the right size and specification. I refute this and it gives me the dimensions and they match the battery but it doesn’t fit, not even close. It asks me if I’m sure I have the right battery ytz14s and I check and it is and it tells me that it should fit. It then says can I take a photo of the battery in place and it’ll take a look. I do that and upload it and tells me that I’ve mistakenly installed it with the top of the battery upwards rather than install it on its side as it should be. I try that and it fits perfectly and the terminals line up.

I’ll blame the heat.

[Taff]

In work there is a big push to embrace AI and we were getting a briefing on Claude a couple of weeks ago.

The in house version of chat gpt was described as a switched on high school kid where Claude can be described as the PhD student, and those that know how to use AI properly really like it.

[dern]

I think it’s absolutely unbelievable. Genuinely useful both in work, holiday planning and now in making me look a fool.

[iansoady]

I've used it a few times and it can be both brilliant and notably stupid. Brilliant: I have a compressor that was misbehaving and after detailing the symptoms it correctly identified the fault. It was also complimentary when I fixed the faulty valve rather than buying a new one!

Stupid: I needed to compress the shock absorber spring on the engine mainshaft of an elderly BSA. It told me to use a threaded bar up the middle of the spring. Yes, but there happens to be a crankshaft in the way........

[dern]

It’s not infallible. I just correct it when it’s clearly wrong and off we go again. Another simple use case I just used it for was to identify a bulb by showing it a picture. Huge time saver, especially in this case where it’s a non standard headlight.

[McNab]

It’s not infallible. I just correct it when it’s clearly wrong and off we go again. Another simple use case I just used it for was to identify a bulb by showing it a picture. Huge time saver, especially in this case where it’s a non standard headlight.

But what about when it's not clearly wrong, just wrong and you don't know?

[Cousin Jack]

Just tried it for finding someone to sort out my decking. Says it doesn't have live access and sends me of to Checkatrade et al. Not helpful at all!

Few weeks ago my daughter use ChatGPT to find a place to park in Newquay. The recommended nearest car park doesn't exist!

I am not convinced by AI.

[dern]

It’s not infallible. I just correct it when it’s clearly wrong and off we go again. Another simple use case I just used it for was to identify a bulb by showing it a picture. Huge time saver, especially in this case where it’s a non standard headlight.

But what about when it's not clearly wrong, just wrong and you don't know?

I guess that you'll soon find out. I wouldn't use it for medical advice

[dern]

Just tried it for finding someone to sort out my decking. Says it doesn't have live access and sends me of to Checkatrade et al. Not helpful at all!

Few weeks ago my daughter use ChatGPT to find a place to park in Newquay. The recommended nearest car park doesn't exist!

I am not convinced by AI.

A lot of it comes down to how good the model is that you're using and the free version of chatgpt is shit. I use a paid version of Claude and asking for recommendations for people to fix decking gives me this...

Screenshot 2026-07-13 at 11.45.33.png (1.18 MiB) Viewed 32 times

I wouldn't say AI in general is the problem behind your experiences.

[Taff]

It’s not infallible. I just correct it when it’s clearly wrong and off we go again. Another simple use case I just used it for was to identify a bulb by showing it a picture. Huge time saver, especially in this case where it’s a non standard headlight.

But what about when it's not clearly wrong, just wrong and you don't know?

This is know as AI hallucinations, and they are a big problem so it's the operators responsibility to check the ai output. Couple that with using AI to do specific tasks like code writing or creating an app rather than what should be general Google searches - I'd expect Google maps to have up to date information on where car parks are.

[dern]

Even google ai mode can provide decent answers and that's free (location is different as I didn't tell claude where I was)...

Screenshot 2026-07-13 at 11.53.38.png (471.14 KiB) Viewed 20 times

No idea what AI you used that couldn't even take a stab at it.

[Taff]

I'm not suggesting that all ai tools couldn't take a stab at it, but different tools have their strengths, Google AI is effectively a Google search and that's exactly where is be putting questions like that.
Co pilot is there place where I'd be asking how to use excel or word features because it's tagged onto M365, and so the answers will usually be right with multiple options.

Using an AI tool that's been developed for coding to ask general questions is like using a hammer to drive a screw home, it'll do the job and look right on the surface.

I'm not suggesting all instances of Claude is specifically for coding.