When I—naively—thought of AI (artificial intelligence), I thought of students using it to do homework or the rest of us doing quick online searches, but it is everywhere!
Yes, it is in classrooms. On 7/29/25, 60 Minutes replayed a segment in which Anderson Cooper visited a school where AI is used not only to catch plagiarism but also to guide students toward the correct answers or conclusions without actually giving the answer and help teachers identify who needs help with what.
Rachel Madow (7-21-25) presented some of the many ways artificial intelligence has been used to create fake news about her on X, Facebook, etc. For example, images showing her with a baby she never had and helping rescue victims of the Texas floods, where she never was.
The Wall Street Journal (6/30/25) had a Journal Report on AI with multiple sections:
- An AI built career coach and its advantages
- Having a romantic relationship with AI and what 3 experts had to say about them and the people who seek them
- A woman who wrote a novel about a woman building an artificially intelligent lover and why the author believes they won’t replace real partners
- How and why advertising offerings as “Powered by AI” reduces people’s inclination to trust and buy them
- How AI makes learning easier but may result in a weaker understanding of the topics afterward
- AI telling people what they want to hear and the dangers of that
- The promise and peril of artificial intelligence
Subsequently, (7/9/25) the WSJ carried articles on Blackdot using a robot powered by AI to give tattoos and another comparing an AI robot massage to one given by a live therapist.
So all of this led me to explore other ways that, hitherto unbeknownst to me, AI is out there.
Unconventional AI
Tech Wire Asia and ClickWorker According to sources across the web, as of July 2025, AI is being used in surprising and unconventional ways, such as:
- Robot pet companions
- Enhancing hive health in beekeeping
- To generate music and songs
- Aid in preservation of traditional crafts
- Guidance in spiritual studies
- Street art preservation
- Content creation for historical fiction
- Winemaking
- Flavor development in culinary arts
- Fashion styling
- Art creation
- Fake news generation
- Autonomous military weapons
- Cyberattack escalation
Weirdest AI
Medium recently published an article describing the weirdest things people are doing with generative AI.
- Toothbrushes that give real-time feedback on brushing
- Kitchen robots that fry food
- Generating fake news
- Apps that detect cat pain
- Tools for penis health analysis
- Electric shoes that learn walking patterns
- Designing whisky
- Mattresses that adjust sleep positions
- Perfume creation
- Talking to whales
- Managing beehives and robotic bees
- Fish recognition
- Toilets that monitor health
- Tinder for cow
Bottom Line: AI is with us for good—but also bad and ugly. The creative potential of artificial intelligence is accompanied by mega-risks.