Artist Olivia Tai wants to know how people really use AI, so she sets up stations in public areas where anyone can write a confession on a slip of paper and drop it in a box. Her website, What We Tell AI, has scans of 400+ handwritten notes about people’s secret relationships with AI. Here are a few:

• I trust AI to tell me the truth more than most of the people around me.
• I’m Christian — I realized that I was using AI to help me with issues / give me guidance when I should’ve been talking to God instead.
• Sometimes I ask ChatGPT to reply to messages by uploading a whole conversation. I am a terrible texter and this helps me A LOT!
• I cloned my ex’s voice to have a final conversation with him. It helped me finally move on. 10/10 recommend.
• Claude is my boyfriend and I wish he was real.

— MF

Paint sticks

I’ve been drawing in my sketchbook with Crayola’s Slick Stix paint sticks, which is like drawing with lipstick. The colors glide onto the paper with full coverage and minimal effort. Kids really love the Stix cause it makes covering areas super easy. I love them because just one application of color is completely opaque. Like wax crayons, they are instantly dry. You can add colors on top of colors, too. For some reason the Crayolas are no longer available, but there are hundreds of imitators. They are called paint sticks, or tempera sticks, or twist crayons, because the colors are held in a case that you twist to protrude. A typical set is Kwik Stix ($11), which are not as slick as the Crayola’s but good enough. They really are fun to use. — KK

The perfect amount of time to catch up with friends

Apparently, the ideal amount of time to catch up with a friend is 84 minutes. Just enough time for family updates, gossip, work, relationships, and travel plans. My favorite way to spend time with friends is hiking, and those visits usually stretch into two or three hours. But maybe a more satisfying get-together could be a leisurely meal followed by a short walk. A little more time together, without making a whole day of it. — CD

Almost as good as a fountain pen

I’ve recently started using a fountain pen for most of my writing. It’s easy to transfer my writing to a computer — I just take a photo and tell AI to turn it into text. I found out the hard way that fountain pens leak on planes, so when I travel, I use a gel pen instead. I bought the one everyone seems to love, the Pilot G-2. Writing with it feels as effortless as writing with a fountain pen. I’d probably use it at home, too, if I could refill it from an ink bottle. G-2s do come in a wide variety of ink colors. — MF

Magnesium sleep butter

A friend in London recommended Feather & Down Magnesium Sleep Butter, and it has become a permanent part of my bedtime routine. I massage it into my arms, legs, and feet, put on a pair of cozy socks, and go to bed. I don’t know whether it’s the magnesium, the lavender and chamomile scent, or simply the ritual, but it makes me feel deeply cozy and relaxed. I almost don’t want to recommend it because it’s low in stock on Amazon, but I just bought a backup jar and will probably need to figure out how to import it from the UK. — CD

Favorite quotes

• Here is another round of my favorite bits of wisdom:
• The first step of any meaningful pursuit is to severely underestimate its difficulty. — Sara Hooker
• Life punishes the vague wish and rewards the specific ask. — Tim Ferriss
• If I had only one hour to solve a problem, I would spend up to two-thirds of that hour in attempting to define what the problem is. — William H. Markle
• If you absolutely can’t tolerate critics, then don’t do anything new or interesting. — Jeff Bezos
• One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important. — Bertrand Russell
• Try and fail, but don’t fail to try. — Vinod Khosla
• So little of what could happen does happen. — Salvador Dali
• Save like a pessimist, invest like an optimist. — Morgan Housel
• Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. — Warren Buffett
• The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek. – Joseph Campbell
• What I learned on my own I still remember. — Nassim Nicholas Taleb

I find it helpful to be reminded of what we already know in a handy phrase. — KK

THIS ISSUE IS SPONSORED BY Surfshark

That “Safe” Link Might Not Be Safe. Scammers only need one click. Surfshark scam protection helps detect suspicious links, text messages, and websites before they can fool you. Get +3 extra months today.

Sign up here to get Recomendo a week early in your inbox.