A dAI in the life of Omar Smith
The 24-year-old social media manager uses AI to get tips for working out, bonding with his puppy, finding scholarships and more.
Omar Smith is a social media manager for Microsoft who lives in Redmond, Washington, with his girlfriend and their 6-month-old yorkipoo puppy, Tobi. He began using Bing Chat for work about six months ago and now relies on it from the moment he gets up every day for everything from help with his workouts to puppy-training tips and party planning.
Smith, 24, who moved to Washington from California two years ago, recently hosted his mom and sister for a visit using an itinerary Bing Chat suggested based on what he told it about their interests. Now he wants his dad to return. He had visited last year, when Smith only had search engines and maps to come up with generic sightseeing options; now he wants to show his dad around his new hometown with a personalized itinerary from Bing.
He shares a typical day as part of Microsoft’s “A dAI in the life” series, which showcases how AI tools are helping people do more in their personal and professional lives.
6 a.m.
Go to the gym. I saved the workout routine Bing gave me a few weeks ago when I asked for ideas for increasing flexibility and building strength in a standing workout, since I don’t really like floor workouts. Bing suggested a standing march with twists, instead of crunches, and to hold a weight in front of my chest and rotate my body from side to side, to replace planks. After strength training, I head to the basketball court for some workouts Bing suggested to improve my vertical leap and overall agility.
AI for your dAI: Plan me a workout for my arms and abs with no situps and no gym equipment. It should only take 30 minutes
7 a.m.
Ask Bing what tricks I can use to foster my bond with my puppy and ways I can keep him entertained while he’s in his kennel during my workday. Bing suggests handfeeding him his kibble in the morning as an easy way to build trust, and to train him to sit and learn other simple commands. Bing also suggests putting his canned food or peanut butter on a training tool in his kennel while I’m in meetings. I tell Bing I’m allergic to nuts, so it suggests I swap peanut butter for pumpkin puree.
8 a.m.
Tell Bing what’s in my fridge and ask what low-calorie and high-nutrition recipes I can use to start my day. Bing suggests I use the spinach I have and mix it in with my eggs — nice.
While eating, I watch an episode of Japanese anime. My friends and I have been procrastinating about visiting Japan for years, so I ask Bing to create an itinerary. I request anime theme parks and exclusive stores that have accessories from my favorite Japanese role-playing games. I’ll need to try all the food, too, and make sure I’m there when the cherry blossoms are in season. Bing suggests a nine-day trip in late March or early April, packed with activities and complete with visiting the 109 building in Shibuya Crossing, the mecca of anime in Akihabara, where I can experience the Square Enix Café.
9 a.m.
Log in and check my work email. Ask Bing to give me a quick overview on the top cultural trends and AI conversations taking place, to help me make sure our social posts are relevant, informative and entertaining.
10 a.m.
Join a Microsoft Teams video call with my colleagues. I brainstorm ideas for the campaign and use Teams intelligent recap to generate a summary of our discussion and then put the recap emails and personal notes in Microsoft Loop to help us collaborate.
11 a.m.
Take a break and play with my puppy. Ask Bing to create a fun caption to pair with a photo I captured of him playing. I gave Bing some examples of rappers that we like, and here’s the response it gave me: “Tobi is my right hand, my go-to / He’s always by my side, he’s loyal and true / He’s more than just a dog, he’s family / He’s got me feeling some type of way, he’s the real MVP.” The suggestion was a little lengthy and not totally in my tone of voice, but it gave me a great foundation to tweak it.
12 p.m.
Make some lunch and play a bit on my Xbox. I know Bing can make recommendations based on my chat history, so I ask it to help me brainstorm what my in-game persona should be in Starfield. I end up creating a Space Ronin with alien DNA, and Bing helps me come up with a name for my spaceship and helps me craft my own backstory with sci-fi references that fits within the context and lore of Starfield, so I can have an idea of what choices I want to make in my playthrough. It also tells me about an unlockable outfit that I didn’t even know was part of Starfield and that perfectly matches my in-game aesthetic, so that’s cool to discover.
4 p.m.
I check the analytics of a social campaign I’m working on and ask Bing Chat Enterprise to give me some insights and recommendations on how to improve it, then build on them in my retrospective exercise before sharing with my manager and partners.
5 p.m.
I wrap up work and turn to school. Ask Bing for relevant scholarships I qualify for, for the master’s program I’m enrolled in, and get Bing’s help to format a paper in the APA style, since I’m more used to using MLA style from my undergrad years.
6 p.m.
Cook dinner using a recipe that Bing suggested based on what I told it I have in my fridge and pantry — salmon, tomatoes, onions, sweet potatoes and spinach — using my new air fryer. I check my Bing search history and go back to a discussion from two weeks ago so I can ask a clarifying question about a trick to air-fry salmon with sweet potatoes.
7 p.m.
Ask Bing to suggest some good movies to watch with my girlfriend, or a new drama or love-reality TV show. We settle on its reality dating show suggestion.
Read more stories in Microsoft’s “A dAI in the life” series and share your story.
Story as told to Microsoft Source writer Susanna Ray.
Lead photo by Scott Eklund/Red Box Pictures; other images provided by Omar Smith.