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How I Use AI. It's quickly become an invaluable tool. By Brian Almon (07/17/25)
I remember working at Idaho Freedom Foundation when Wayne Hoffman gave all employees an assignment to start evaluating how artificial intelligence (AI) could be used in the course of our tasks. I recall making a few silly pictures with Midjourney, as well as using ChatGPT to answer questions about Idaho law and legislative history.
My colleague Niklas Kleinworth once told me he used it to build arguments against his own positions so he could better defend them in essays and policy papers. — Brian Almon
Political commentator and consultant Brian Almon explains how he has expanded his early use of artificial intelligence while cautioning that AI must not become a substitute for actual human thinking.
We agree, AI tools have their upsides and downsides.
Upsides include its ability to synthesize and summarize long documents (including legislative bills) and to research countless sources on the internet in seconds.
Downsides include the incredible use of water, power, and space for massive AI data centers and the tendencies for AI users to check their brains at the door.
Nonetheless, people — including those without human assistants like us — will use AI more and more as they discover ways to produce better results in less time.
Article Summary (Grok ai, edited; cartoon image by Grok)
Brian Almon finds AI is an invaluable tool for streamlining tasks and enhancing productivity in his work at Gem State Chronicle.
He initially experimented with AI for research and image creation, but now relies on tools like ChatGPT, Grok, and Wonk for editing, data visualization, coding, and automating repetitive processes, such as updating legislative scorecards.
Almon warns that while AI has immense transformative potential, AI should augment, but not replace, human reasoning.
Almon’s Key Uses of AI
Editing and Research: Uses ChatGPT to check typos, grammar, and find specific legal references, ensuring accuracy with manual verification.
Argument Evaluation: Tests arguments for logical flaws like strawman or ad hominem attacks, while noting AI’s tendency to be overly agreeable.
Data Visualization and Calculations: Employs AI for quick data visualizations (e.g., library board data) and calculations (e.g., tax cut projections).
Automation and Coding:
Created a custom script for scrolling headlines on his website.
Developed a PHP script to automate updating 105 legislator profile scorecards from a spreadsheet.
Summarization: Generates summaries of long documents (e.g., Supreme Court cases) and creates SEO excerpts or tweets for articles.
Technical Problem-Solving: AI replaces internet forums for diagnosing website and automotive issues.
Cautions and Philosophy
Avoid Over-Reliance: AI should save time for human thought, not replace it.
Not Sentient: View AI as a tool, not an autonomous being, referencing Ex Machina (tinyurl.com/3sb2s2da) as a cautionary tale.
Revolutionary Potential: Compares AI’s impact to computers, the internet, and smartphones, with vast future possibilities.
Use Carefully: Almon sees AI as a game-changer for efficiency but urges careful use to preserve human reasoning and critical thinking.
ED NOTE
During the 2025 Idaho Legislative session, we detected a whiff of AI use by Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF) to evaluate bills. We found IFF's conclusions lacking for certain medical freedom and weather modification bills that we had studied in-depth.
We cannot say for sure that IFF used AI; we simply suspect they did. We consider AI useful for summarizing bills and figuring out what's in them, but it's not necessarily ideal for evaluating short- and long-term benefits and pitfalls. We believe AI may be of limited value for comparing a bill's content against IFF's standard metrics, which should not be done "by wrote" but by careful human consideration (tinyurl.com/w5j49jev).Related:
How I use LLMs. Andrej Karpathy (02/27/25, video 02:11:11 includes transcript): youtube.com/watch?v=EWv…
Resources (our Substack): tinyurl.com/5n8akn69
Links to AI systems mentioned in Almon’s article:
ChatGPT (OpenAI): chatgpt.com
Grok: grok.com
Wonk (Mountain States Policy Center): mountainstatespolicy.or…
Additional Bill Evaluation and Tracking Tools:
Fast Democracy: fastdemocracy.com
Bill Track 50: billtrack50.com/account
Idaho Legislature Bill Tracker:
