Tinker & Tokens
What do the links at the top mean?

A link takes you to another page. The links at the top give you these choices:

  • Start here — follow the four short lessons from the beginning.
  • Everyday uses — find small, practical jobs you could try with AI.
  • AI tools — meet examples of outside AI apps and learn how to choose one.
  • Explore more — find news, detailed activities, and the separate children’s area.
Step 3 of 4

Meet a few AI tools.

Start with a tool on this website, or meet four AI apps people use for questions, writing, and ideas.

You do not need to choose an app or open an account to continue these lessons.

Practice on this website

Practice tools on this site

Shape a prompt, think through a task, or keep a checklist beside you. No new account is needed.

These three tools use prepared examples or organize your text in your browser. They do not call an AI.

AI apps from other providers

Choose the task first. For a first try, choose a job you can check: write a short note, summarize a made-up notice, or brainstorm a few ideas. Any of these four apps may help with those tasks. Use fictional details while learning.

If you already use one of these apps, start there with a small task you can check. You do not need to open several accounts to follow this lesson. Choose one whose controls you can use comfortably, and check its sign-in requirements, privacy choices, and any charges before continuing. If something is unclear, pause.

Optional: if you already use Google or Microsoft apps

If you use Google apps, check whether Gemini’s features suit your task and account. If you use Microsoft apps, check which Copilot features your account can use and any charges.

Using those apps does not by itself mean AI features are included. You can also choose another assistant; there is no single best choice for every person and task.

These are examples, listed alphabetically. This is not a ranking or a preferred-provider list.

ChatGPT

From OpenAI

Ask follow-up questions about an explanation or a picture you upload. Its image tools can also create a picture or edit a photo you provide.

Claude

From Anthropic

Revise a document or small interactive tool beside the conversation using Artifacts, its separate work area. It can analyze an uploaded picture, but ordinary Claude chat does not create or edit photographs.

Copilot

From Microsoft

Ask a web question and inspect its source links, or create and edit a picture. Features inside Microsoft apps such as Word or Excel depend on your account and plan.

Gemini

From Google

Create or edit a picture. If you choose to connect supported Google apps, it can also help find or summarize information in those apps.

These are examples of useful features, not exclusive strengths. Features overlap, and the tools are not interchangeable for every task. Check what is available in your own account.

Different tools can give different replies.

Providers choose different designs, rules, and defaults. A reply may be mistaken, leave out a viewpoint, or show bias—an unfair or one-sided view.

A familiar brand or agreement between several assistants is not proof. Check important claims against the original information and decide what to use. Features, account requirements, prices, and privacy choices can also differ and change.

Optional: what is an LLM?

A large language model, often shortened to LLM, is a type of AI trained on large amounts of language. It learns patterns that help it produce replies.

An app can combine models with other features and tools. You do not need to know the model’s name to follow these lessons.

Ready to try an app? (Optional)

You can finish our four steps without opening another app. If you want to try one, the links below leave this lesson and open the official app’s website. Use your browser’s Back button to return here.

Account requirements, available features, prices, and privacy settings can vary. Check the app’s current information before you decide to use it.

  1. Choose one app below. You do not need to try them all.
  2. It may ask you to sign in. Follow that app’s instructions if you choose to continue.
  3. Type a small request using fictional notes. The fictional book-swap notes from Step 2 are one example.
  4. Read and check the reply before using it. Compare names, dates, and promises with your notes.
  5. Ask for a change if you need one. For example: “Make this shorter, and keep the same facts.” Read and check the new version too.

Optional comparison: try the same fictional note in a second app. Different wording is normal. Check the facts in both replies. You do not need to try all four apps.

Optional: try a photo edit, then check what changed

A photo edit makes the differences easier to see. ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini document tools for editing an uploaded picture. Claude documents picture analysis rather than native photo editing: it can help describe a picture or plan edits, while its diagrams and interactive tools are a separate kind of visual work.

This is a documented exercise to explore, not a tested comparison or a promise of faithful restoration. The original picture is your reference.

  1. Choose a safe practice picture. Use a duplicate of a non-sensitive picture you own or have permission to upload. Keep the original untouched. You do not need to upload a family photograph to learn this.
  2. Choose one app with image editing available. Use its picture attachment or upload control, then describe the edit. The official image guides below explain the current steps. If the feature is unavailable or asks for an upgrade, skip the exercise; no purchase is needed to finish our lessons.
  3. Ask for a small, specific change. For example: “Make an edited copy with lighter scratches and gentler contrast. Keep faces, clothing, lettering and background objects as close to the original as possible. Do not add objects.” Asking does not guarantee that the details will stay unchanged.
  4. Compare both pictures side by side. Look closely at faces, eyes, teeth, hands, clothing, signs, and background objects. Reject an edit that changes something important, even if the result looks attractive.
  5. Label edited copies. If you ask for color, supply colors you actually know. Unknown original colors and missing details are interpretations, not recovered historical evidence. Label the result “AI-edited” or “AI-colorized interpretation.”

Sign-in, age, country, plan, and usage limits can affect image tools. Google currently documents personal-account image editing for adults 18 and over. Check any charge or credit notice in the app before continuing. Exact allowances change.

For a fair comparison, use the same permitted picture and request only in apps that can perform that edit. Compare ease of use, limits, and unwanted changes. An assistant that analyzes the picture is doing a different job from one that returns edited pixels.

Next, learn what to check. The final step covers privacy, checking details, and staying in control.

Sources, if you’d like to read more

Provider documentation checked October 20, 2026. Features and account terms can change.

Optional reading: these links open the provider’s website in a new tab. You can finish this lesson here.