I asked AI for help with DIY. It told me to build a subfloor on rotting stumps, but also taught...

B1297 words1:52News Report American AccentPublished Jun 4, 2026 · Updated Jun 5, 2026

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#1

A writer from The Guardian has shared his experience of using artificial intelligence for DIY home repairs.

#2

He was asked by his workplace to explore practical uses for AI technology.

#3

At the same time, he and his partner had purchased an old house that needed many repairs.

#4

He decided to use ChatGPT as his guide for the renovation work.

#5

The writer admitted that he has never been good at practical work.

#6

He comes from a family of skilled tradespeople and renovators, but those skills were not passed on to him.

#7

Because he knew about his own limitations, he hoped that AI could fill the gap.

#8

He treated the chatbot like a search engine and asked it detailed questions about home repairs.

#9

However, the AI gave some dangerous advice.

#10

In one case, it suggested building a subfloor on top of rotting wooden stumps.

#11

This could have caused serious structural problems for the house.

#12

The writer compared AI to the worst member of a team, because it does the minimum amount of work.

#13

He also found that it sometimes invents false information instead of checking facts.

#14

Despite these problems, the writer said the experience taught him valuable lessons about decision-making.

#15

He explained that nothing boosts your confidence more than realising you can make a better decision than a machine.

#16

The AI was useful for generating ideas and providing general information.

#17

However, human judgement was still needed to evaluate the quality of its suggestions.

#18

The story highlights a growing concern about the limitations of AI tools.

#19

While artificial intelligence has been used in many industries, this case shows that users should not trust it completely.

#20

Experts have warned that AI can produce confident-sounding answers which are actually incorrect.

#21

For tasks like DIY, where safety is important, human expertise remains essential.