Improving Your AI IQ #4

By Isabella Aranda Garcia

The internet started off as a whisper, slowly gaining its voice. AI, on the other hand, started off singing opera. The AI revolution is advancing at rapid speed; companies are building massive data centers, new AI-related and AI-adjacent jobs are coming into existence, and AI is becoming a must-have tool to excel at any job. If you’re not already, it’s time to get comfortable with AI, and we’re here to help with this new series. You can thank us later.

Living in your home is harder than it seems, and sometimes a little help goes a long way. From your ever-growing electricity bills to diagnosing that strange sound, there are plenty of stressors to keep you up at night. Lucky for you, AI tools are stepping in to make life at home smarter, easier and a lot less stressful.

Problem:

Something is making a noise it absolutely should not be making, and now you’re debating whether to ignore it or emotionally prepare to call a repair person.

Solution:

FixBot is your first line of defense before panic-Googling or texting a professional at midnight. Created by iFixit, this AI helps you figure out what’s actually wrong with appliances, household items and everyday devices that suddenly stop cooperating. Just describe the issue, choosing the specific device for a more tailored consult, or upload a photo if you’re truly confused. FixBot will walk you through the fix step by step and even sells replacement parts. But please, know your limits.

Problem:

Everyone’s on a different schedule—chores ignored, dinner forgotten and important papers lost to the void.

Solution:

Congrats, you’re now officially the chief household officer. With Ohai, you can finally coordinate plans, chores and schedules without losing your mind. Ohai learns your family’s habits and preferences, creates meal plans, syncs everyone’s calendars and manages important to-dos, from cleaning to running errands. Even better: school updates and permission slips can be scanned, so you’ll actually know when the next student-teacher conference will be with no surprises, no guesswork, and no paper avalanche.

Problem:

Your energy bill jumps for no apparent reason, and suddenly you’re side-eyeing every outlet like it personally betrayed you.

Solution:

Sense is an AI energy app that tells you where your electricity is actually going by tracking your home’s energy use and breaking it down by appliance to help you see what’s driving up your bill and when. It also flags opportunities to cut back and build more sustainable habits without turning your home into a candle-lit cave. Sense is free if your electricity provider has installed a Wi-Fi–enabled smart meter, or you can purchase their monitor, which starts at $299. Either way, they say users save about eight percent annually, which is nice considering you didn’t have to unplug your entire life to do it.

Problem:

You’re constantly asking yourself, “Did I pay that bill?” “Was the furnace serviced last year?” “Oh no, where did I put that receipt?”

Solution:

Need an estate manager to keep track of the endless bills and home maintenance requirements? HomeZada can help. It tracks maintenance, organizes your inventory, stores warranties and receipts, and can even manage renovations or keep an eye on your home’s value over time. It organizes all the little (and big) headaches, sending you reminders for repairs and upgrades, keeping your house from falling apart and your brain free to remember the more important things in your life, like the name of the person you just met or taking your coffee and keys off the roof of your car before you start driving.

Resolution:

Your closet is a treacherous labyrinth, and you can’t find anything to wear to the wedding, gala and job interview happening over the next two weeks. What is even in there anyway?

Solution:

Alta catalogs all the pieces of your wardrobe (yes, this means entering said labyrinth to snap photos of all your clothes). Once the hard part is done, just type in a prompt whenever you need outfit inspiration, and Alta will mix and match your pieces to create the perfect look. You can even make an avatar to try the outfits on virtually, so you can see it all together before stepping in front of the mirror. And thanks to your new on-demand personal stylist, you’ll have more time to stare blankly at your coffee until it’s the perfect temperature.

We tip our hats to:

Comet

Because we all need smoother, saner workdays

Comet is an AI-powered browser that acts like a personal assistant while you surf the web. It can read and summarize webpages, answer questions, compare products, draft emails and even help manage tasks like scheduling or organizing tabs, all without leaving your browser. Built on Chromium, it supports extensions and bookmarks while offering AI-driven insights based on the pages you have open. Plus, it prioritizes privacy by keeping much of your data local, so you get smarter browsing without compromising control.

This article was published in the March/April 2026 edition of Connect to Northern Westchester.