I asked the AI ​​to help me choose a hobby. Judge her suggestions, from beekeeping to astronomy

Wasting time is a matter of opinion. A fun afternoon for one person putting the finishing touches on the details Lego Death star Construction is a chore that numbs someone else’s mind. Then there is the investment. You can spend a Two weeks And a prince’s ransom only to discover miniature shipbuilding doesn’t actually float your boat.

Model trains, running clubs, robotics, and programming classes all sound fun — until you realize you’d rather fly, your running shoes cost a lot more than they should, and you’re less of a front-end/back-end expert and more of a “there’s no end in sight to how boring Java is” kind of person.

I asked three different ones Artificial intelligence systems — Claude I, Google Gemini and ChatGPT – about what my wife’s next hobby should be using the exact same router, and the results were surprising.

Claude: Get an idea

Here’s the prompt I wrote: “I am a 39-year-old man in the United States of British descent. I live in Los Angeles, California, married with a dog and a cat. I live in a house with some space in the backyard. I enjoy traveling, reading, and playing video games and am looking to add a new hobby to my list of activities. I also enjoy getting deals, because that is what my career deals with. Can you suggest three hobbies that I should look into for my review? Please give me information on the financial and time commitments required, as well as what you would consider to be positives And the downsides to each of them, I work a regular 9-5 job, so I have to do it under that constraint as well.

Gardening is a hobby that many people only appreciate in their golden years, but all three AI systems recommended it as an easy way to pass the time with minimal effort and cost.

The second suggestion was to resell and thrift vintage finds, followed by brewing beer, cider or mead at home. She gave a lot of detail about the time and financial commitments, pros and cons, as well as why I assumed these hobbies would suit my husband based on that short prompt.

Claude Ai was particularly thoughtful in catering to the guide’s needs and personality, noting that gardening can be a great way to save money—perhaps realizing that finding a good deal is a deeply ingrained personality trait for my cheap little husband.

Gemini: common interests

Gemini suggested digging up old video games, books, and other old media and reselling them as a hobby that would pair well with points travel. She also recommended brewing beer as a way to spend time in an already plant-filled backyard (in addition to “high-yield urban gardening”).

Gemini was adept at using quick details provided by my husband to guide his suggestions, creating a well-packaged, comprehensive approach to how he spent his spare hours between a demanding 9-to-5 job.

ChatGPT: Spend a night in it

Besides backyard gardening (again), ChatGPT was the only AI system to suggest an evening hobby: amateur astronomy. Most other systems focused on ways to spend your weekend hours at estate sales or at home.

Stargazing might be a fun way to spend a Friday night, but we live in Los Angeles. Many of the “stars” in the sky may be satellites, and finding a suitable vantage point will likely mean braving traffic and crowds taking selfies above the city skyline.

Another ChatGPT suggestion was to use our backyard for beekeeping:

Beekeeping seemed completely out of left field, considering that the original prompt said nothing about caring for food, insects, or anything remotely related to complex bee-related care – or bee law. According to ChatGPT, the time commitment is only two to four hours per month (although local beekeepers may dispute this).

Overall, ChatGPT’s recommendations were the least relevant to the mentor’s real interests, and the reasoning the tool used to explain why it made recommendations was very weak.

I can’t believe that “many full-time professionals” who enjoy playing video games also do a little beekeeping on the side.

Hopefully, AI can come up with some creative ideas to spend your time that don’t involve buying a full-body suit.