9 apps that showcase the fun side of AI

This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here.

I’ve been exploring new AI applications that can compose music, make short videos, or redesign a room. Read on for summaries of free AI experiments that will take you just a minute or two to try.

Create a personalized children’s story with Schrodi. Collaborate with AI on a free customized, illustrated story for someone special. Give your story’s hero a name, pick a genre (e.g., comedy, thriller), choose an illustration style (e.g., watercolor, 3D animation), and provide a prompt to shape a simple story. You can even suggest a moral. After a minute, download a full-color PDF to share. Or print it and read your new mini picture book aloud.
Generate a quiz with Piggy. Put in a link, a topic, or some text, and you’ll get a quiz you can share, featuring multiple-choice or true-false questions. Example: Try this quick entrepreneurship quiz Piggy generated for me.
Make a short video with Wochit Video Creation Wizard. Make a 30-second video just by drafting a short prompt. You can then share a link to the video, download it, or refine your prompt and make another. Example: Here’s a video I generated about how journalists can use AI.
Make music with Google’s MusicLM. Type in a phrase to describe music you want to create. No musical lingo necessary. Just describe a feeling or sound. Here’s a short piece I generated that ended up sounding like a beginner’s video game soundtrack. Alternative option: Meta’s new music generator lets you upload a music track and reshape it with AI based on your own prompt. Or just describe some music you’d like to hear. Example: Below is a 15-second snippet of Ravel’s Boléro reshaped into a cheerful country song with acoustic guitars.
See if you can tell a human from a bot with Human or Not. Chat with a stranger for two minutes, then guess if it was a human or a bot. After analyzing the first 2 million attempts, AI21 Labs reports that 32% of people haven’t been able to distinguish between an AI and a human.
Get summaries of NPR stories with GistIt. If you like NPR coverage but don’t have time to listen to or read full stories, GistIt provides summaries so you can catch up efficiently.
Dream up a new room design with Fotor AI Interior Design. Upload an image of a room in your home—or a room you love—and see what the room might look like reimagined by an artist. Or type in text describing the look and feel of a room you’d love and see what the AI designs.
Summarize anything via email with Shortwave. Forward an article link or a long email to tldr@shortwave.ai and you’ll get back a short summary. No sign-up, no cost, no wait. Use your existing email. Alternatively, forward an email with meeting info to cal@shortwave.ai and get back a calendar invite. In addition to these tools, Shortwave has an up-and-coming new email service that’s like an AI-boosted version of Gmail.
See how you’ll look in 20 years with Extrapolate. Upload a headshot and get a preview a minute later of what you’ll look like after a decade or two of aging. It’s free to use and your photo gets deleted after 24 hours. Warning: You might be freaked out by seeing your older self.

This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here.