How AI Saved Me Hours on a Boring Task
Over the last couple of months I supervised an installation crew installing 36 backup generators at a new data center construction site.
The generators needed new coolant, which arrived in large 1000 litre IBC tanks. We had to store these tanks for a few days because the radiators weren't ready to be filled yet.
I was asked to create a sign showing what substance was in these tanks and whether there were any hazards.
This sign then had to go on the fence that barricaded off these tanks.
Creating a sign made sense to me since construction equipment like forklifts and cranes could damage the tanks and can cause leaks.
When that happens, you want to know what substance has spilled and what the hazards are.
The painful part: I had to read through a boring 15-page product document from the coolant supplier. That was littered with technical jargon to find the relevant safety information.
I was not excited about that as you might expect.
Let's get some help from AI to ease the pain!
Let AI Extract Information From the PDF
I decided to leverage ChatGPT to help me with creating this sign because:
You can upload a PDF into it and ask questions about it
It has a free image creator in the chat section
Perfect for what I was trying to achieve.
1. ChatGPT
So I went to https://chatgpt.com/. The free version is fine.
2. Prompt 1
I asked AI the following.
Prompt
I’ve got here information about coolant. Extract the most crucial safety information in a digestible way so I can put that information on a fence and everybody knows what is in the IBC tank and what the protentional hazards are in case of contact with the coolant or spillage.
Result
3. Prompt 2
It was impressive how quickly AI extracted the key information from the PDF. Now I asked if AI could create a sign that included that information.
Prompt
Design a visual 1-page A3 sign with hazard pictograms and bold sections that clearly shows what is in the IBC tanks.
Result
4. Prompt 3
I was actually straight away happy with the result. It looks like it has all the key information on it and it looks professional! So, I asked AI if it could create a downloadable file.
Prompt
Now create a PNG download of the image.
Result
Now I can print it out, laminate it and put it on the fence that will barricade off the coolant storage tanks.
Conclusion
I was stoked to not have to read through that 15-page document myself.
That would have been painful and would have taken me hours.
With AI, this entire process took just minutes. And I gave it fairly simple prompts.
AI handled the boring part so I could focus on getting the sign printed and installed.
That's exactly what I want from AI: taking care of boring tasks quick but accurate.
What boring tasks are you still doing manually?
Try using AI to handle them instead.
You might be surprised at how much time you can save.
