847: Actually Useful AI Tools

David and Stephen take stock of where AI is actually useful right now. They cover dictation, browsers, agentic workflows, MCP, and Apple Intelligence, plus the real projects each runs today, including email triage and a customer-service robot.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

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Links and Show Notes:
Credits

The Mac Power Users

Stephen Robles (beard.fm)

David Sparks (macsparky.com)

The Editor

Jim Metzendorf (twitter.com/jmetzendorf)

The Fixer

Kerry Provanzano (twitter.com/ciaokerryciao)

More Power Users: Ad-free episodes with regular bonus segments (relay.fm/mpu/join)
Submit Feedback (relay.fm/mpu/feedback)
MPU on YouTube (youtube.com/@relaympu)
Claude.ai (claude.ai)
Google Gemini (gemini.google.com/app)
ChatGPT (chatgpt.com)
Perplexity (perplexity.ai)
Dia Browser | AI Chat With Your Tabs (diabrowser.com)
Comet Browser: a Personal AI Assistant (perplexity.ai/comet)
Robot Assistant Field Guide | MacSparky Field Guides (learn.macsparky.com/p/rafg26)
Wispr Flow | Effortless Voice Dictation (wisprflow.ai)
Whisper Memos - AI voice recorder app for iPhone & Apple Watch (whispermemos.com)
ChatGPT Images 2.0 vs Gemini Comparison (mastodon.social/@stephenrobles/116449700415464…)
Mastodon Post

🎙️ MacWhisper (goodsnooze.gumroad.com/l/macwhisper)
Transcriptionist for Mac and iOS (wooji-juice.com/products/transcriptionist)
The Master Engineer Taking Over Apple (and Why It Matters) - YouTube (youtube.com/watch?v=Ej3SEJVg45w)
Apple Home Devices - Stephen's Website (beard.fm/homekit#lights)
Made by Claude

OWC Envoy Pro FX (owc.com/solutions/envoy-pro-fx)
SaneBox | Dashboard (sanebox.com)
Cloudflare (workers.cloudflare.com)
Platformer (platformer.news)
Six Colors – Apple, technology, and other stuff (sixcolors.com)
Gling - AI Video Editing Software for YouTube (gling.ai)
Free AI Voice Generator & Voice Agents Platform | ElevenLabs (elevenlabs.io)
‎Coffee Finder by Beardfm App - App Store (apps.apple.com/us/app/coffee-finder-by-beardfm…)
coffee finder

‎The No List App - App Store (apps.apple.com/us/app/the-no-list/id6751258334)
Kagi Search (kagi.com)
Marvin the Paranoid Android - Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_the_Paranoid_Andr…)