Most people use AI for one thing: asking it questions or writing text. That is like buying a smartphone and only using it for phone calls.
Each tip below includes exactly how to try it free, right now. No paid plans required.
If you want background on the tools mentioned — ElevenLabs, Runway, Claude, ChatGPT — our free AI tools guide covers what you actually get from each at no cost. And if you want a deeper look at what AI can and cannot do across categories, see What Can AI Actually Do in 2026?.
How to get started
Pick one tip from the list below — whichever sounds most useful to your work — and try it today. You do not need to try all five at once. Most people find one or two that become part of their regular workflow and never get to the others.
A note on free tier limits
Every tool listed here has a genuine free tier that is enough to test the capability. Runway gives you 3 video generations per month. ElevenLabs gives 10,000 characters. Claude and ChatGPT both have generous daily limits at no cost. Try before you pay — the free tier is enough to know if each one is worth upgrading.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Do any of these AI capabilities require a paid plan?
No — all five can be tested on free plans. Runway gives 3 video generations per month free, ElevenLabs gives 10,000 characters per month, and Claude and ChatGPT both have free tiers that cover the tasks described here. The paid plans give you higher usage limits, but you do not need them to try any of these capabilities.
Q: Is it safe to upload a real PDF document to Claude?
For most documents — reports, articles, contracts you want to understand — it is fine. Claude does not store your documents permanently, and Anthropic has a published privacy policy covering how conversation data is handled. Avoid uploading documents containing highly sensitive personal data (social security numbers, financial account numbers) to any cloud-based AI tool. For confidential business documents, check your employer’s AI usage policy first.
Q: Can AI-generated code from ChatGPT be trusted without testing?
Always test it before relying on it. ChatGPT is excellent at writing working code for common tasks — spreadsheet formulas, simple scripts, standard web components — but it can produce plausible-looking code that has subtle errors. The safe approach: copy the code, test it on a sample of data or in a test environment, and verify the output is what you expected before using it in anything important.
