At Home with Tech

It’s not as complicated as it looks. Tech tips for your life.

Category: AI

August 30, 2026

Why I Created Three AI Spokespeople to Promote My Blog

Meet Mr. Tech, a robot and a time traveler. I invented them and then brought them to life in their own commercials below. But here’s their true purpose.

I had a mentor who once told me about her 80/20 rule when producing content. The rule said you should spend 20% of your time ‘creating’ and the other 80% ‘promoting’ what you made.

Leaning into the spirit of that 80/20 marketing rule, I’ve decided to spin up a few Gen AI characters inspired by my blog topics to help promote a few of my past posts. (And of course, by doing that, I’m instantly breaking that rule.)

So please meet my three AI spokespeople I created who are now starring in the below 30-second At Home with Tech commercials.  

The Time Traveler

Mr. Tech (You’ve seen him before.)

The Robot Teacher

My next step was to bring these freeze frames to life. But to accomplish that, I had to first wear the following hats:

  • Casting
  • Location Scout
  • Script Writer 
  • Talent Director
  • And Director of Photography
    (I occasionally used Claude for this.)

Once I provided the necessary creative direction and script, I put Gen AI to work creating video clips for my commercials. Here are the results.


This Time Traveler has a Mission to Save Time

My Blog Post:
How to Use Shortcuts on Your iPhone to Save Time



Mr. Tech Worries About Capturing the Sunrise on a Cloudy Day 

My Blog Post:
How Clouds Transformed My Boring Sunrise Timelapses
into Pure Magic



Robot Teacher Explains How to Unlock an Old Suitcase

My Blog Post:
Try this Luggage Hack If You Forget Your Lock’s 3-Digit Code



I Used Google Flow

So yes, I hope you watch my above AI commercials and then read my blog posts they’re promoting.

But truthfully, that’s not the main reason why I created them.

I gave myself this marketing assignment, because I wanted to learn more about how to make these AI spots.

For this project, I used Google Flow (Veo) as my Gen AI tool of choice. 

The Steps to Bring My AI Characters to Life

And while parts of my workflow generated cool, unexpected AI iterations, which I used for inspiration, much of my creative process still relied on this human’s creative vision. 

And because this astonishing technology is still highly imperfect, I found a clear need for an organized process that would lead me to an acceptable level of creative consistency and output.

So, I had to stick to the following steps:

  • Create the characters and their voices first
  • Generate their environments
  • Then put them together
  • Write the script and figure out each shot and length
  • Be ready to adjust certain shots if they’re not generating correctly
  • Don’t forget that each failed video generation drains your monthly credit allotment 
  • So allow yourself the flexibility to leave certain ideas behind
  • Give yourself enough time to account for platform generation delays
  • Simplify as needed

Though you can perform basic video edits on the Google Flow platform, I decided to bring my clips into Final Cut Pro for more advanced results.

I’m Learning a New Way to Communicate

None of this went especially quickly, and I found there were clear limits to what this ‘beginner’ could accomplish. What I ended up with wasn’t exactly what I envisioned, but it was close. It still feels remarkable that this is even possible.

And though there is some commentary out there about how AI may be taking away our need to ‘think,’ let me tell you, I had to do a whole lot of thinking with this. It was like trying to solve a puzzle that was regularly shifting on me. 

Sure, I traveled through several phases of frustration. But I also found the process entirely fun and invigorating. I was like a Star Trek ‘Q,’ creating realities from the whims of my imagination.

Of course, I know it’s only going to get easier. Not only because AI is constantly improving, but because this ‘organic’ is learning too.

Radical Change

As I travel through this new creative process to visualize my own ideas through AI, I hope you enjoy my silly AI spokespeople and find more of my blog posts.

The road ahead is far more serious.

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July 19, 2026

I Kayaked to this Lighthouse with My Drone for these Incredible Views from the Air

Standing on the rocky shore of Goat Island near Cape Porpoise, Maine, I gained a whole new perspective as I flew my little camera drone around this magnificent tower. Here’s my footage. See for yourself.

Goat Island Lighthouse has stood at the edge of the southern Maine coastline for almost two centuries. It wasn’t built to be admired. It was built to be obeyed. Established in 1833 to guard the entrance to Cape Porpoise Harbor, ‘Goat Island Light’ is still an active beacon. 

I’ve admired this brick tower for the past five summers during our vacations to the Cape Porpoise coast. 

Though Goat Island Lighthouse continues to shine bright at night, the morning sun enhances its beauty and bold elegance.

A Lighthouse, a Kayak, and My Drone

I’ve taken many photos from afar. But this year, I decided it was time to try to capture its rugged strength up close and from the air.

With my preproduction planning complete, I set out in a kayak shortly after first light with my DJI camera drone and headed off to the rocky shore of Goat Island.

As soon as I arrived, I put my little DJI Flip drone in the air and got to work recording short clips. And I’m proud to present my completed video sequence of Goat Island Lighthouse.

My experience capturing these aerial moments was exhilarating. And I’m pleased that my footage benefits from a rousing score I conjured up via Google Flow Music (another remarkable AI-powered creative tool).

I didn’t exactly follow my less-is-more creative strategy, as this video clocks in at close to two minutes. My earlier editing exercise using the DJI Fly app created snappier results. But I really wanted to explore the ‘cinematic feel’ while featuring my ‘hero.’

Five Summers of Admiring… One Morning of Finally Flying

Creative success is often a team sport. I’d like to thank Kennebunkport Conservation Trust for permission to fly my drone by the lighthouse. And special thanks go to my two friends for accompanying me on my little adventure.

I captured incredible views that few can normally see. I’m still beaming.

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May 31, 2026

How to Use Claude AI to Find New Streaming Movies for Family Movie Night 

Instead of manually searching through each of my streaming apps to find new film releases each week, I did this instead using Claude.

In our house, streaming a movie on a Friday night isn’t just fun, it’s become something of a family tradition. Each week for more than a decade, I’ve curated a list of films for my wife and son to stream with me. (We usually choose one after I play all the trailers.)

As you can imagine, the movie choices were more limited when our son was younger. (Don’t ask how many times we watched, “The LEGO Movie.”) Now that our boy is in high school, he’s ready for a wider range of options. 

But that still doesn’t make our movie selection process easy. We’re three people with three different tastes in movies. I can often predict what our son will like, but not always. 

“John Carter?”

I’ve got a running joke going with him regarding Disney’s “John Carter.” That flick’s been on my list since our son was in elementary school. Even though it was an absolute box office bomb, I thought this silly adventure on Mars was fun. Plus, its parallel Civil War era dark vibe provided an interesting stylistic twist. 

I’ve always felt it was the perfect Friday night choice. But he’s probably turned it down at least 100 times. (I think I might want to take it off the list.) 

I Always Need More Choices

The truth is Barrett’s movie list doesn’t always contain a collective choice to watch each week.

So, I’m always looking for new options to offer up. And it feels crazy to say that with eight streaming platforms to choose from, it’s been challenging to find enough fresh releases. (This has become increasingly difficult since the pandemic and the overall decrease of movies being made today.)

Hurry!

Every Friday evening before dinner, I find myself quickly scouring through all my streaming apps in search of any new releases to add to my list.

And let me tell you, this process always feels like it takes forever as I hunt around! 

Wouldn’t it better if I could put a little AI-oomph into this process to speed up my search?

And that’s exactly what I just did.

Set up a Claude Project

So, I went to my Claude AI assistant and asked it for help on how I should set up this movie search to repeat regularly. It suggested I create a Claude Project.

You can do that by navigating to the left sidebar and clicking on “Projects.” 

  • Click on “New Project”
  • Add in the “Description”
  • Then add in the “Instructions”

The “Instructions” field is for your prompt, which provides the directions for Claude to follow.

Here’s the prompt that Claude created for me to use:

  • When I ask for new streaming movie releases, search each service individually with separate web searches — one each for Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Max, Hulu, Apple TV+, Peacock, and Paramount+. Cross-reference with Rotten Tomatoes and JustWatch. Do NOT use a single combined search. Group results by service and include: title, date added, genre, and Rotten Tomatoes score where available. Only include movies, not TV shows or specials. Include results for the most recent seven days. (I added in that last sentence.)

You, of course, can use this prompt as well. Just modify it with your particular list of streaming services.

Creating My Movie List in Seconds

So, I quickly set up this Claude Project and then ran it. It instantly got to work searching a variety of websites that track new streaming movie releases for the platforms I listed.

And then about ten seconds later, Claude provided me a report with all the new movies I should consider, sorted by streaming service and complete with brief descriptions.

It was perfect.

(You don’t need to set up a Claude Project for this. You can just run the prompt as part of a regular chat question. But the project makes it ready to go for the next time.)

A Huge Time Saver

Wow. Why didn’t I think I this sooner?

Claude isn’t the only AI assistant out there that can do this trick. (It just happened to be the one I used for this exercise.)

Now, I can accomplish this movie search in seconds. That’s quite the time saver.

Barrett’s Movie List

I must admit that presenting my movie list has become a bit of an eye-rolling moment for my family after all these years. But they still let me do it.

And you might be asking… where are their lists? Exactly.

Somehow, I’ve fashioned myself as the all-knowing movie critic in our family. (In my defense, I have been writing movie reviews as a hobby since I was in college.)

But that doesn’t really make me an authority any more than you.

Thank You, Claude

At best, my movie list is a quaint family tradition. We’ll leave it at that.

And by the way, our son is growing up. Did I mention he’s in high school already?

So, Friday movie night doesn’t happen regularly anymore. And when we do sit down together after dinner, it’s often to watch the next episode from a series we’re watching. (We’re currently enjoying “Dark Matter” on Apple TV.)

But I will always have a few movies to suggest whenever the moment calls for it.

And now, Claude gets to do all the research work for me.

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