Ginny Deerin brings back her most-requested format — real, concrete things she has actually done with Claude AI, no theory and no hype. She ticks through ten of them from the past couple of weeks: getting a refund from Audible, researching a Kindle, finally getting into the US Open, figuring out what on earth to do with forty-plus carrots, replacing a twenty-five-year-old rice cooker, going deeper on the film A Taste of Things, rescuing a beloved pair of suede heels, sorting out who owed whom after a family week at Pawleys Island, explaining yeast to a four-year-old, and decoding a baffling four-page Medicare notice. Some are practical, some are just plain fun — all of them real.

In AI in the News, a story for every dog lover: scientists have used the gene-editing tool CRISPR to create the first hypoallergenic dogs — and Ginny explains where AI does, and does not, fit into that. In AI for Good, two stories from opposite ends of the world — an AI-designed drug that improved a serious lung disease and may even slow the biological markers of aging, and a man in Colombia who, with arthritis in his ankles and a laptop, used AI to build an earthquake-relief app that helped a million and a half people.

Plus a listener who had AI honestly critique her watercolor painting, and two recommendations you can use this weekend: Charleston's brand-new city website and its AI assistant, Charlie, and a walk-through of the hidden emergency kit already built into your phone.

Pull up a chair and join us for Episode 53 — and thank you for being here.

SHOW LINKS

🔗 "How Much Is That Gene-Edited Dog in the Window?" (The New York Times, Emily Anthes, Aug. 31, 2026): https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/science/dog-breeding-gene-editing-crispr.html

🔗 "Early Data Indicates an A.I.-Generated Drug Could Slow Aging" (The New York Times, Cade Metz, Sept. 7, 2026): https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/07/science/ai-generated-drug-longevity.html

🔗 "After the Earthquake, They Used A.I. to Mobilize Aid" (The New York Times, Juliana Castro Varón, Sept. 2, 2026): https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/02/world/americas/colombia-earthquake-ai-aid-app.html

🔗 "Get to Know Your Phone's Built-In Emergency Kit" (The New York Times, J. D. Biersdorfer, Sept. 2, 2026): https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/02/technology/personaltech/iphone-android-emergency-features.html

🔗 City of Charleston — new website and AI assistant "Charlie": https://www.charleston-sc.gov/

Chapters

00:00 Welcome to aiGED

00:55 Meet Claude and Bitsy

01:33 Gene-Edited Hypoallergenic Dogs

05:47 AI Drug That May Slow Aging

09:24 Quake Relief Website Built Fast

12:14 Ten Real-Life AI Uses

13:26 Refunds and Kindle Decisions

15:28 Sports, Food and Kitchen Wins

19:00 Movies, Shoes and Family Math

22:39 Yeast for Kids and Medicare Mail

25:23 Listener Comment and Community

27:25 Weekly Recommendations

31:37 Wrap Up and Safety Reminders

aiGED: AI for the 65+ crowd