My AI Toolkit

I'm not a tech person. I work in construction. AI tools have made a lot of small jobs easier for me, from reading legal letters to fixing problems on my laptop. On this page I share the tricks I actually use. They are basic on purpose. If I can do it, you can too.

1. Screenshot it and ask Claude to explain

If I don't understand something, I take a screenshot and put it into Claude. Then I ask it to explain it to me step by step. It works for almost anything you can see on a screen: a letter, a form, a bank statement, a settings page or an error message.

When I bought my first flat, my solicitor's documents read like a different language to me. Today I would screenshot the page, get a plain English explanation in a minute, and then take my real questions to the solicitor.

How to do it

1. Take a screenshot. On a Mac, press Cmd + Shift + 4 and drag over the part you want. On Windows, press Windows + Shift + S. On an iPhone, press the side button and volume up together. On most Android phones, press power and volume down.
2. Open Claude. Go to claude.ai or open the app. A free account is enough.
3. Add the screenshot. Paste it into the message box, or attach it with the + button.
4. Ask your question. Keep asking follow-up questions until it makes sense.

Other questions that work well: "What does this word mean?", "What do I need to do next?" and "Is there anything here I should be worried about?"

Where I use it

For property: letters from my solicitor, the terms in a mortgage offer, a clause in a tenancy agreement, and letters from HMRC or the council. For everyday life: error messages on my laptop, phone settings, and bills I don't understand.

I use Claude, but ChatGPT and Gemini can do the same thing.