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To be clear, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the awesome thing. I’ll leave it up to you to decide if the post itself is awesome or not, and yes, the ambiguity in the headline is intentional. It drew you in, did it not?
To clear up further confusion, I will specify when the content is AI-generated; the rest is all me.
In the last couple of years, I’ve seen occasional negative commentary with readers wondering out loud if some of the less-engaging content here was written by AI. I take offense to such comments on behalf of the AI content-generating bots, because frankly, in 2025, those bots can convey far more information in far less time than me or any other author possibly could. And they’re good. Scary good.
AI has become remarkably skilled and useful, and if you haven’t begun to explore what it can do for you, I suggest you start today.
Witnessing the Current Capabilities of AI
Last month, I felt fortunate to be in attendance as Dr. Mark Allen, a non-clinical physician and entrepreneur, who wowed the crowd at the Prosperity Conference by demonstrating the use of numerous AI tools in real-time to create a marketing plan, promotional brochures, imagined patient testimonials, a book outline and first chapter, and more. In well under an hour, he had all of this, plus audio and video content ready to go for a somewhat random product he plucked off the internet.
I’ve read many an article touting the abilities of AI, and I’ve seen Google Gemini’s AI summaries, but I’d never seen such a variety of tools being used right before my eyes.
Since then, I’ve spent a little more time asking detailed questions (prompts) at various AI sites. The answers I received to a specific line of questioning regarding estate planning are what led me to write this post, and I’ll include that conversation in its entirety below.
Estate Planning and AI
I don’t recommend using AI to create a complete estate plan. In 2025, it still makes sense to use an attorney for that. I also can’t confirm that everything the AI tells me is true — they have been known to hallucinate and confabulate at times — but what I did learn was mighty impressive, and it will be shared with an attorney in the near future.
Our Estate Plan
I have a simple estate plan that can be summed up in two words.
Never die.
It’s a foolproof plan as long as my wife and I achieve and maintain immortality indefinitely, but in the unlikely event that one of us does kick the bucket eventually, our plan needs to be a bit more robust.
To that effect, we have beneficiaries named on all of our accounts (or so we thought). We had a last will and testament written up when our boys were young, and we’ve both filled out the Five Wishes pamphlet that serves as our Advanced Directive.
It’s a start, but it’s obviously an incomplete estate plan assuming at least one of us dies one day. As much as it pains me to admit our inadequacy publicly, doing so may be what prompts me to take action. As an aside, if you consider me to be your sworn enemy, please refrain from offing me in the next three to six months. I need some time to get things sorted. Thanks!
Thanks for Nothing, Vanguard
Years ago, for asset protection purposes, I moved the index funds in my taxable account from a personal account to a joint account held by my wife and me. What I didn’t realize is that for some unclear reason, Vanguard doesn’t allow jointly held accounts to have beneficiaries.
It wasn’t until I stumbled upon a forum thread on estate planning at Millionaire Money Mentors that I knew this to be true, and I verified that the beneficiary designations did not follow from my now-empty personal account to our joint account.
Fidelity and Schwab, by the way, both allow joint accounts to have beneficiaries designated. This is not a legal thing; it’s a Vanguard thing.
Now, it’s not an issue unless my wife and I die at the same time or in fairly rapid succession. However, if we perish together in a car crash or a sentient AI humanoid robot attack, or if one of us dies first but the surviving spouse dies before inheriting the index funds in a personal account and re-assigning beneficiaries, then those assets could get stuck in probate, a costly and time-consuming process that can be avoided any number of ways.
Another issue that I had a vague understanding of is the fact that in many states, if one of us dies and the other inherits the assets from a joint account, the assets only benefit from a 50% step up in cost basis. On the other hand, if all of the assets are in one person’s name, and that person dies first, the surviving spouse benefits from a full step-up in cost basis. If you guess wrong, and the spouse whose name isn’t on the account dies first, then the surviving spouse gets no step up in cost basis. It’s a dumb conundrum.
Potential Solutions to the Problems
I have two problems. Well, more like 99 problems, but two that became clear to me today.
One, there are no beneficiaries listed for our joint seven-figure Vanguard non-qualified brokerage account, and I cannot add them at Vanguard.
Two, I’m pretty sure (and AI confirms this below) that the joint account setup ensures that the surviving spouse will only receive a 50% step up in cost basis on the assets in the joint account. If it’s unclear what that means, just wait for the AI clarification.
The first problem can be solved by moving the assets in-kind to another custodian like Fidelity or Schwab and then naming beneficiaries. Since I’m not selling, no capital gains will be generated, and no taxes will be owed.
I don’t love this solution for two reasons. I’ve been loyal to Vanguard for years, and I appreciate how they operate their business. The fund owners essentially own Vanguard. The second reason I’m not ready to move my money is that it doesn’t solve the second problem of the 50% step up in cost basis if and when one of us dies before the other.
Perhaps there’s a solution that addresses both problems?
Enter AI.
What the AI Bot Has to Say
Again, I’ll lead with a disclaimer. AI is great for augmenting your research and answering questions with more granularity than a simple search engine can, but it’s not a replacement for professional legal advice.
That said, I learned more than I anticipated, and what I learned with two simple prompts may be the nudge I need to finally contact an estate planning attorney to set up the revocable trust that I’ve been putting off for so long.
At this point, I want to thank you for your patience. We’re finally getting to the good part. My prompts below will be in bold, and the AI responses will be in italics. After asking my two questions, I asked a third question requesting permission to publish this and how I can give the site credit. I was given the green light to share on this site, and it was suggested that I include the following sentence:
“This content was generated with the assistance of Grok, an AI language model developed by xAI. For more information, visit xAI’s website.” It also suggested saying that “This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice.” Good call.
If you don’t want to use the X.com associated Grok, there are a number of others. Try duck.ai for an anonymous AI experience using one of several different AI “brains” or try any of the other 10 suggested sites at the end of this article. And now, my first prompt:
I live in Michigan. My wife and I have a joint non-qualified brokerage acccount held at Vanguard. If one of us dies, does the other benefit from a full step-up in cost basis on the assets held in this account?
Wow! That was thorough. I posed this question and followup questions to Grok 3 with “Think” enabled, and it thought for 63 seconds before displaying the full answer. It would take me at least 63 minutes to write up something like that, assuming I had all the information stored in my brain, which I most certainly do not.
My next thought was that maybe there’s a way to set up a trust to allow for a full step-up in cost basis that doesn’t require a person to correctly guess if he or she will die before or after their spouse.
I could ask the same question of an estate attorney, but estate attorneys charge hundreds of dollars an hour, and Grok is free, at least for a handful of questions per day. So I followed up with this:
For us, could a revocable trust be utilized to set up a situation in which, when one spouse dies, the surviving spouse could receive a full step-up in cost basis?
68 seconds later, I had this response:
Yes, a revocable trust can be utilized to set up a situation in which, when one spouse dies, the surviving spouse could receive a full step-up in cost basis for assets like your joint non-qualified brokerage account at Vanguard. However, achieving this outcome depends on how the trust is structured, and it’s not the default result in a common law state like Michigan. Let me explain how this works and what would be required.
Understanding the Step-Up in Basis
When someone passes away, the assets they own generally receive a step-up in basis to their fair market value at the time of death, as outlined in Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 1014. This means that if the surviving spouse or other heirs sell those assets later, they would only pay capital gains tax on appreciation that occurs after the date of death, potentially saving significant taxes.
For a joint account between spouses in a common law state like Michigan, the IRS typically treats it as a qualified joint interest. Under IRC Section 2040(b), only 50% of the account’s value—the deceased spouse’s share—is included in their estate and receives a step-up in basis upon their death. The surviving spouse’s 50% retains its original basis, which could lead to higher capital gains taxes if sold later.
Your question is whether a revocable trust can change this outcome to provide a full step-up in basis for the entire account when one of you passes away.
How a Revocable Trust Works
A revocable trust is a flexible estate planning tool that you can alter or revoke during your lifetime. Assets placed in the trust are still considered owned by the grantor(s) (you and your spouse) for tax purposes because you retain control. When a grantor dies, the assets in their revocable trust typically receive a step-up in basis to their fair market value at death, similar to individually owned assets.
For a married couple, a common setup is a joint revocable trust, where both spouses are grantors and contribute assets—like your joint brokerage account—into the trust. Upon the first spouse’s death, the trust often splits into two parts:
- The decedent’s trust (or bypass trust), holding the deceased spouse’s share, which becomes irrevocable and gets a step-up in basis.
- The survivor’s trust, holding the surviving spouse’s share, which remains revocable and does not get a step-up until the surviving spouse’s death.
In this standard structure, if you transfer your joint account into a joint revocable trust, the outcome mirrors the current joint account: only the deceased spouse’s 50% share would receive a step-up in basis when they die, because only that portion is included in their estate under IRC Section 2038.
Can a Revocable Trust Provide a Full Step-Up?
Yes, it’s possible to structure a revocable trust to achieve a full step-up in basis for the entire account, but it requires careful design beyond the typical setup. Here’s how it could work:
Structuring the Trust for Full Inclusion
Under IRC Section 1014, property receives a step-up in basis if it’s included in the deceased person’s gross estate for federal estate tax purposes. Normally, in a joint revocable trust, only the deceased spouse’s share is included in their estate. However, you could structure the trust so that all trust assets are included in the first spouse’s estate when they die. One way to do this is by granting the deceased spouse a general power of appointment over the entire trust under IRC Section 2041.
- What this means: A general power of appointment allows the deceased spouse to direct where all trust assets go (e.g., to anyone, not just the surviving spouse or a limited group). This power causes the full value of the trust—including the surviving spouse’s share—to be included in the deceased spouse’s estate.
- Result: Because the entire trust is in the estate, all assets (like your brokerage account) receive a step-up in basis to their fair market value at the time of the first spouse’s death. The surviving spouse then benefits from this full step-up if they sell the assets later.
Practical Example
Suppose your joint brokerage account is worth $200,000, with an original basis of $100,000:
- Without a trust (current joint account): If one spouse dies, 50% ($100,000) gets a step-up to its fair market value (say, $100,000), while the other $100,000 keeps its $50,000 basis. The surviving spouse’s new basis is $150,000.
- With a specially structured revocable trust: If the trust gives the deceased spouse a general power of appointment, the entire $200,000 is included in their estate and stepped up to $200,000. The surviving spouse inherits the account with a full $200,000 basis, minimizing future capital gains taxes.
Considerations and Caveats
While this approach can achieve a full step-up, it’s not without trade-offs:
- Estate Tax Implications: Including all trust assets in the deceased spouse’s estate could increase the estate’s value for federal estate tax purposes. However, with the 2023 exemption at $12.92 million per person (adjusted annually), and the unlimited marital deduction for assets passing to a surviving spouse, this is unlikely to trigger taxes unless your estate is exceptionally large.
- Loss of Flexibility: Granting a general power of appointment might conflict with your estate plan if you want to restrict how assets are distributed after death.
- Complexity and Cost: This isn’t a standard feature of most revocable trusts. You’d need an estate planning attorney to draft the trust with precise language, which could increase legal fees.
Alternative Approaches
- Separate Trusts: You could split the joint account into two equal parts, each spouse transferring their share into their own revocable trust. When one dies, their trust’s assets get a step-up, but the surviving spouse’s trust assets don’t until their death—still only a 50% step-up at the first death.
- Community Property Option: In community property states, all community assets get a full step-up at the first spouse’s death (IRC Section 1014(b)(6)). Michigan doesn’t have this, and it doesn’t offer a community property trust election like Alaska or Tennessee. Moving to such a state or setting up an out-of-state trust might be impractical.
Conclusion
For you, living in Michigan with a joint brokerage account, a revocable trust can be structured to provide a full step-up in cost basis when one spouse dies, but it requires specific provisions—like a general power of appointment—to include all trust assets in the deceased spouse’s estate. In a standard joint revocable trust, you’d still get only a 50% step-up, similar to your current setup. To make this work, consult an estate planning professional to tailor the trust to your goals, balancing tax benefits with other estate planning needs. So, the answer is yes, it’s possible with the right design.
Again, wow! It appears that there is a solution to the two estate planning problems that occurred to me this morning. I’m wondering if the Considerations and Caveats are problematic enough to make such a trust setup non-viable, so I ask for more details.
Can you go into greater detail on the considerations and caveats listed above regarding the specially structured revocable trust? I’m particularly concerned about the loss of flexibility regarding how assets are distributed after death.
After 31 seconds of thought, the answer:
Thank you for your follow-up question. I understand your concern about the potential loss of flexibility in how assets are distributed after death when using a specially structured revocable trust to achieve a full step-up in basis. Let’s dive deeper into the considerations and caveats, with a particular focus on this issue, while also addressing the complexity, cost, and estate tax implications. I’ll explain these points clearly and tailor them to your situation as a Michigan resident.
Key Purpose of the Specially Structured Revocable Trust
The primary goal of this trust is to ensure that the entire value of the trust assets (e.g., a joint brokerage account) is included in the deceased spouse’s estate. This inclusion allows all assets to receive a full step-up in basis upon the first spouse’s death, potentially reducing capital gains taxes if the assets are sold later. This is accomplished by granting the deceased spouse a general power of appointment over the trust, which triggers estate inclusion under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 2041.
However, this structure introduces trade-offs—especially regarding the flexibility of asset distribution, which is your main concern. Let’s break it down.
Loss of Flexibility in Asset Distribution
What is a General Power of Appointment?
A general power of appointment gives the holder (here, the deceased spouse) the ability to direct where the trust assets go after their death—to anyone they choose, such as family, friends, charities, or even a new spouse if they remarry. This unrestricted power is what causes the entire trust to be included in the deceased spouse’s estate, enabling the full step-up in basis.
Why It Affects Flexibility
In a typical estate plan, you might want to ensure that assets pass directly to the surviving spouse or are distributed to specific heirs (e.g., your children) according to a predetermined plan. However, the general power of appointment introduces uncertainty:
- The deceased spouse could theoretically redirect the assets to someone outside your intended plan—like a friend or a charity—either intentionally or unintentionally through their will.
- This flexibility conflicts with your desire for control over how assets are distributed after death.
Practical Impact on Your Estate Plan
While it’s unlikely that a spouse would use this power to disrupt your shared goals, the possibility exists:
- Example Scenario: Suppose you and your spouse intend for your joint brokerage account to pass to your children after both of you are gone. If the deceased spouse has a general power of appointment and exercises it (e.g., in a will) to leave the assets to someone else, your plan could be overridden.
- Risk of Unintended Consequences: If the deceased spouse doesn’t exercise the power, the trust’s default distribution plan takes effect. But if they do, it could alter the outcome in ways you didn’t anticipate.
Mitigating the Risk
To address this concern, you could explore ways to limit the general power of appointment while still achieving the step-up:
- Restricted Power: Limit the power to a specific class of beneficiaries (e.g., descendants or charities). However, this might not qualify as a “general” power under tax law, potentially preventing full estate inclusion and negating the step-up.
- Conditional Provisions: Draft the trust to discourage or limit the exercise of the power in ways that disrupt your plan. For example, you could include language requiring the surviving spouse’s consent, though this must be carefully worded to preserve the tax benefits.
Important Note: Balancing control over distribution with the tax benefits of a full step-up requires precise legal drafting. Any restriction that’s too narrow could disqualify the trust from full estate inclusion, undermining the goal. This is why professional guidance is critical.
Complexity and Cost
Why It’s Complex
A standard joint revocable trust is simple: assets are held jointly, and when one spouse dies, they pass to the survivor or other beneficiaries as planned. Adding a general power of appointment to achieve a full step-up complicates things:
- The trust must use specific language to ensure the power triggers estate inclusion without unintentionally disrupting your distribution goals.
- It requires careful coordination with your overall estate plan to avoid conflicts.
Legal Fees
This isn’t a standard feature, so you’ll likely pay more for an estate planning attorney with tax expertise to draft and review the trust. Costs vary, but expect higher fees than for a basic trust due to the specialized nature of the structure.
Ongoing Management
After setup, the trust may need periodic reviews to adapt to changes in tax laws, asset values, or your personal circumstances. This adds to the long-term cost and complexity.
Estate Tax Implications
Federal Estate Tax
Including the entire trust in the deceased spouse’s estate increases their taxable estate. However, this rarely triggers federal estate taxes for most people:
- The 2023 federal estate tax exemption is $12.92 million per person (adjusted annually for inflation).
- The unlimited marital deduction allows assets passing to the surviving spouse to be exempt from tax at the first spouse’s death.
Michigan Estate Tax
As a Michigan resident, you benefit from the state’s lack of a separate estate tax. This simplifies the planning process, as you only need to consider federal implications.
When It Might Matter
If your total estate (including the trust) approaches or exceeds the federal exemption, estate taxes could apply. For example:
- A $15 million estate might face taxes on the excess, though proper use of both spouses’ exemptions can minimize this.
- For most families, however, the exemption is high enough that estate taxes aren’t a concern.
Balancing the Trade-Offs
Is the Full Step-Up Worth It?
The full step-up can save significant capital gains taxes if you plan to sell assets soon after the first spouse’s death:
- Example: If your brokerage account has $200,000 in unrealized gains, a full step-up could save $40,000+ in federal capital gains taxes (at a 20% rate) when sold.
- However, if you intend to hold the assets long-term or pass them to heirs, the step-up may be less critical, as heirs get another step-up when the surviving spouse dies.
Alternative Strategies
If the loss of flexibility is a dealbreaker, consider these options:
- Accept the 50% Step-Up: Use a standard joint account or trust. Only 50% of the assets get a step-up at the first spouse’s death, but you retain full control over distribution.
- Split Assets: Divide the joint account into two separate accounts or trusts (one per spouse). The deceased spouse’s assets get a full step-up, while the survivor’s don’t until their death. This still limits the step-up to 50% at the first death but avoids the general power of appointment.
Conclusion
The specially structured revocable trust offers a full step-up in basis but comes with trade-offs:
- Loss of Flexibility: The general power of appointment could allow the deceased spouse to redirect assets, potentially conflicting with your distribution goals.
- Complexity and Cost: It’s more expensive and intricate to set up and maintain than a standard trust.
- Estate Tax Implications: Unlikely to be an issue for most, given the high federal exemption and Michigan’s lack of a state estate tax.
Given your concern about asset distribution, weigh whether the tax savings justify the potential loss of control. Consulting an estate planning attorney is essential to tailor this structure to your needs—ensuring it aligns with your goals while optimizing tax efficiency. They can help you assess the risks, draft precise provisions, and explore alternatives if needed.
I hope this clarifies the considerations and caveats. Let me know if you’d like to explore any aspect further!
This is fantastic. AI stresses the importance of involving a human professional, explores some potential unintended consequences, and offers a simple solution that had not occurred to me: having each spouse hold approximately half of the assets in two separate individual brokerage accounts.
When inheriting a joint account in a common law state like Michigan, the surviving spouse gets a 50% step up in basis on all of the assets in the taxable account. A better situation, as would be the case when each spouse has half of the assets in their own account, is that half of the assets would get a 100% step-up in basis, while the other half would get none.
Only sell from the inherited assets when cash is needed and save the assets from your own account to be inherited by the next generation with a full step-up or donate to charity as desired (as we like to do with appreciated assets when funding our donor advised fund).
Do you live in a common law state like I do? Or is it the preferred community property state? Let’s ask Grok.
Can you please provide a list of common law states and community property states? For brevity’s sake, please list only the 2-letter postal code abbreviation, and list them in alphabetical order for each category.
Grok responded with a bullet-point list, the formatting of which is not ideal for this website, so I followed up with: Can you arrange these lists into sentences with commas separating the states instead of the bullet point format?
Here are the U.S. states categorized into community property states and common law states, arranged into sentences with commas separating the two-letter postal code abbreviations.
Community Property States:
The community property states are: AZ, CA, ID, LA, NV, NM, TX, WA, and WI.
Common Law States:
The common law states are: AL, AK, AR, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NH, NJ, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, UT, VT, VA, WV, and WY.
These sentences include all 50 U.S. states, listed in alphabetical order within each category, based on their property law systems.
It took 26 seconds to come up with the bullet point list and another 8 seconds to list them as displayed above. I’ll point out that NV, TX, and WA also levy no state income taxes. Yes, I confirmed that fact with a followup question posed to Grok.
So, I imagine you’re probably not as invested in my estate planning adventures as I am, so how can you personally benefit from using AI? I don’t know, but maybe Grok does.
Can you identify about a dozen ways in which a busy professional (like a doctor) can leverage AI to be more efficient at work and home and generally make life easier and more enjoyable? Please limit the response to 300-400 words.
Here are a dozen ways a busy professional, like a doctor, can leverage AI to boost efficiency at work and home, making life easier and more enjoyable, all within a concise 300-400 word response:
At Work:
- Scheduling & Administration: AI tools can manage appointments, send reminders, and handle billing, freeing up time for patient care.
- Medical Research: AI-powered search engines quickly locate and summarize relevant studies, keeping doctors informed on cutting-edge treatments.
- Diagnosis & Treatment: AI algorithms analyze patient data, suggest potential diagnoses, and recommend tests or treatments, enhancing decision-making.
- Patient Communication: AI chatbots manage routine inquiries and follow-ups, ensuring timely responses without extra effort.
- Documentation: AI transcribes and organizes patient notes, cutting down on time-consuming paperwork.
At Home:
- Smart Home Automation: AI-driven devices adjust lighting, thermostats, and security, and even reorder groceries based on habits.
- Personal Finance: AI tracks spending, optimizes budgets, and automates investments, simplifying financial oversight.
- Entertainment Curation: AI suggests books, movies, or music tailored to preferences, making relaxation more enjoyable.
- Fitness & Health: Wearables powered by AI monitor activity, recommend workouts, and track sleep, supporting a healthy lifestyle.
- Learning & Development: AI platforms deliver personalized courses, allowing professionals to upskill at their own pace.
Work-Life Balance:
- Email & Communication Management: AI prioritizes messages, drafts replies, and schedules meetings, reducing inbox stress.
- Mental Health Support: AI apps offer meditation, stress relief techniques, and connections to support resources, promoting well-being.
By adopting these AI solutions, a busy doctor can streamline repetitive tasks, stay ahead in their field, and reclaim time for personal passions. At work, AI enhances productivity and patient care, while at home, it automates chores and enriches leisure. The result? A more balanced, efficient, and enjoyable life with less stress and more focus on what truly matters.
I have so many followup questions, and I imagine you do, too. I encourage you to log on to your favorite AI and start asking those questions. Not sure where to start? Me neither, but I know where to get a good answer.
I’ve got numerous followup questions, but I’d like to read responses from different AI sites. Can you name at least 10 other websites that will allow me to ask detailed questions like these and get a AI-generated response for free? Please indicate which will require a login and which allow users to ask questions anonymously.
I got a great answer, but none of the named sites were hyperlinked, and I know how cumbersome it is to copy the site name into a new browser tab, search for it, go to the right site, copy the URL, then return to this site to highlight the name of the site, and create the hyperlink for 10 different sites. I took that cumbersome 20-minute task and Grok accomplished took care of it for me in under a minute with this prompt: Can you repeat the answer, word for word, but with hyperlinks for each of the named sites?
Here’s a list of 10 websites where you can ask detailed questions and receive AI-generated responses for free. I’ve categorized them based on whether they require a login or allow anonymous usage. All of these platforms offer free access to their AI features, though some may have limitations for non-logged-in users.
Websites That Allow Anonymous Usage (No Login Required)
- ChatGPT by OpenAI
- Provides conversational AI responses to a wide range of questions. You can use it without logging in, though there may be limits on usage or features for anonymous users.
- Perplexity AI
- Offers detailed answers with citations from the web, making it great for research-like questions. No account is needed to start asking.
- YouChat by You.com
- Combines AI responses with search results, accessible without a login for straightforward question-answering.
- Copilot by Microsoft (through Bing)
- Available via Bing search, this AI can respond to detailed queries without requiring a login, though some advanced features may need a Microsoft account.
- Poe by Quora
- Lets you interact with multiple AI models (like Claude and ChatGPT) without signing up, though usage limits may apply.
- Andi
- A privacy-focused AI platform that answers questions in a conversational style, usable without an account.
Websites That Require a Login
- Gemini by Google
- Google’s AI offering requires a Google account to access its question-answering capabilities.
- Claude by Anthropic
- Known for safe and interpretable responses, but you’ll need to sign up for an account to use it.
- Hugging Face’s Chat
- Provides access to various open-source AI models for chatting, requiring a Hugging Face account.
- Character.ai
- Allows you to interact with customizable AI characters that can answer questions, but an account is necessary.
Each of these platforms has its own strengths. For example, ChatGPT excels in conversational depth, Perplexity AI provides sourced answers, and Poe offers variety by combining multiple models. Those requiring logins, like Claude and Gemini, might offer more personalized or advanced features once you’re signed in. Note that anonymous platforms may impose usage caps or restrict some functionalities for non-registered users. Feel free to explore these to find the ones that best suit your follow-up questions!
That should be enough to get you started! I learned a lot with this exercise, both about my specific estate planning conundrum and about the power of AI and its ease of use.
AI is transforming how we live, work, learn, and play, and it’s growing more powerful every day. Comment below and let us know how you’re using AI or how you plan to start!
7 thoughts on “Leif Uses Artificial Intelligence to Write a Post, and It’s Awesome”
As usual, I found Leif’s post to be _really_ useful and interesting. I’ve only just dipped my toes into exploring AI’s capabilities, but with the framing (w/ his usual sense of humor and intelligent/clear writing) I found the post a great illustration of the potential uses of the technology. While the caveats to double-check most AI answers with known credible resources (whether in-person experts or known trustable online resources or other references) remains, it clearly is an efficient and effective way to narrow the universe of an unknown answer to a more definable and researchable question.
I’ll add one new AI resource to the 10 (11 including Gronk/X) that Leif made available to us that I discovered in a WSJ article today: Duck.AI – it let’s you choose among (currently 5) different chat models (GPT-4o mini, Llama 3.3 70B, Claude 3 Haiku, o-3-mini, and Mistral Small 3) that allow you to protect your privacy and not log in to potentially provide/lose your privacy to the learning models.
Thank you for the kind words, DB. I’ve also found duck.ai to be a great option, especially if you don’t want to create a login or have your queries tracked. It could be easily missed given the length of the article, but that was actually the first alternate resource I suggested:
“If you don’t want to use the X.com associated Grok, there are a number of others. Try duck.ai for an anonymous AI experience using one of several different AI “brains” or try any of the other 10 suggested sites at the end of this article.”
Cheers!
-Leif
Doh! That’s what I get for letting the (or at least _this_) human reply without AI assistance.
I think what happened was I read your whole article and then later that day read the WSJ article which featured Duck.ai and when I looked back at your article to reply didn’t see it in the 10 you mentioned. Sorry about that as it was indeed in the text at the start of your post.
FWIW, after a week or so of noodling around with some of them a bit more, it feels like the Duck.ai models are not quite as robust as some of the others.
Being loathe to sign in to the ones who make me/us their product, I’ve found I usually get my best help from Perplexity.AI, which gives you some nag screens to try to get you to log in, but allows you to use their service without doing so. I also especially like that it does cite the references it is drawing from for its answers/research, so I can assess their validity. Some of their sources can be a little sketchy (R***it fora, cough, cough), but they also generate some good ideas to pursue further if their initial help does not seem exactly spot on. It generated some useful help for me this tax season as I wrestled with how to compute the Foreign Tax Credit for Foreign Taxes paid on International MFs & ETFs.
Thank you again for the post, Leif. I am more excited about the sophistication of the learning we can gain from AI after reading your post than I have been about anything else I’ve read on knowledge management in some years (since I first tried to become as adept as possible w/ Google searching!).
I’ve started using AI recently and have been blown away by incredibly detailed responses to very complex questions. From photography to web and server engineering questions- it’ll even draft code to use in a script to accomplish something there’s no conventional way to do. Great intro article for those who have not ventured into AI beyond Google search responses. It’s worth checking out for complex questions and explanations, as a place to start at least.
I just have to say though, and honestly politics aside, why on earth would you go with the 1 AI system that’s run by a guy running around throwing Nazi salutes? A man who is responsible for thousands of federal workers and scientists loosing their livelihoods. And, a company that also now owns one of the most toxic, divisive social media platforms on the internet. You chose the most controversial option possible, and for that reason alone I immediately cringed.
The simple answer is that Grok is the chatbot that Dr. Allen demonstrated on stage, telling us that it’s currently the best and is more powerful than the latest ChatGPT offering. That changes on a weekly basis, though. Since I’ve had a Twitter account since 2009, I didn’t need to create a new account to use Grok. I’ve since created a ChatGPT account and have tried others like Microsoft’s Copilot and Duck.ai. I mentioned these and others in the post knowing that people would want other options.
Personally, I’m glad I bought a Kia EV and not a Tesla for several reasons. At the moment, I’m eternally grateful that the Kia comes with the Vehicle-to-Load feature built-in, and we’ve been powering the essentials at our house for the last four and a half days with it after a nasty ice storm. As a bonus, Kia’s CEO isn’t in the headlines for gutting important federal programs.
I’ll have to spend some time exploring how AI can interact with my photography collection. But for now, we’re only powering the fridges, freezer, device chargers, and sump pumps.
Cheers!
-Leif
So this entire post is essentially AI generated material with no effort to confirm the truth of what was generated. Unsubscribe.
Well, no. I wrote 30% to 40% of the 6,000+ word article, showcasing the capabilities of AI to address a specific conundrum.
As for confirmation of AI’s output, some of it I know to be true and much of it is easily verifiable. The only parts I haven’t verified are those that would require an experienced estate planning attorney, and even then might require some research on their part.
If you’re an estate planning attorney, please chime in and share your expertise. If not, I encourage you to use AI tools to research questions and topics more pertinent to you. That’s the goal of the article — to expose our audience to what AI is now capable of doing. A month ago, I had no idea how AI might be useful. Now, I use it most days.
Cheers!
-Leif