Use AI When It Can Help You - On the Cheap
I'm not a heavy user of AI. I only occasionally have ways to make use of it in my job and hobbies. I have better things to do than to sit around thinking of things for LLMs to do more for me. There are sometimes, however, when I have had an occasion to use it. I use the advanced models of ChatGPT, but I don't pay 20 dollars a month for it. In fact, my total bill for the past year of use has been exactly $15, billed in three separate payments of 5 dollars each.
My suggestion to you is that you set up a pre-paid account with OpenAI. All it takes is $10 . You can set limits on your consumption if it makes you feel better, but it isn't needed. Once you set up an account, you can generate API keys to use with all kinds of software and services to use the advanced and any new models. Many apps are essentially free when you use your own key.
How can I set up prepaid billing? | OpenAI Help Center
Once you have your account set up, here is how can you get an API key to use elsewhere
How To Get Your API Key For OpenAI
Some problems OpenAI has solved for me:
- Wrote a Python script today that edited 500+ markdown files (my imported Raindrop.io bookmarks) from my Obsidian vault. It moved text in the form of an inline properties field for URLs from the body of the note into the YAML front matter. I knew next to nothing about Python.
- Wrote a Python script to convert a 300-line CSV file of quotes I exported from a program into 300 markdown files with the quote, the author and the associated tags.
- Took a list of Mastodon user names and converted them to Markdown link back to the user's home instance and profile.
Some apps you can use your key with include: