Thousands of AI tools, a new one every day, most are vaguely useful wrappers with a £15/month price tag. Here’s what actually changed how I work.

Artificial intelligence neural network visualization

Changed My Workflow: Claude (Anthropic)

For writing, editing, working through problems — Claude is the AI I end up using most. Better at nuanced writing than most alternatives, less prone to hallucinating facts. The free tier is genuinely usable for most people.

Changed My Workflow: ElevenLabs for Voice

AI voice generation where I can no longer reliably tell the difference in listening tests. Use it for podcast-style content, video voiceovers, content in multiple languages. Free tier: 10,000 characters per month.

Actually Useful (Niche): Perplexity AI

If you need research that synthesises sources with citations rather than returning a list of links — Perplexity is excellent.

Overhyped: AI Image Generators for Practical Use

Midjourney makes stunning images. Getting a specific, accurate, practically useful image for a defined brief is still hit or miss for commercial use.

My current AI stack: Claude for thinking and writing. ElevenLabs for audio. Perplexity for research. Test: would I pay for this out of my own pocket? If no, don’t continue.