How I used ChatGPT to build a custom PDF editor tool instead of letting it touch my files directly
By
David Gewirtz
Summary
A ZDNET article detailing how the author used ChatGPT to build a custom PDF editor tool for his wife, who needed to convert scanned yellow-paper choir song booklets into clean, enlarged black-and-white PDFs. Rather than letting AI directly modify his files (which he didn't trust), he asked ChatGPT to write Python code that safely processes the PDFs. The experiment succeeded, producing a working tool in about the time it takes to make dinner, demonstrating a smart approach to using AI for practical problem-solving without risking data integrity.
Source
bskyHow I used ChatGPT to build a custom PDF editor tool instead of letting it touch my files directlyzdnet.comKey quotes
· 3 pulledThe smartest way to use AI may not be letting it touch your files, but asking it to write software that handles them safely - in the time it takes to make dinner.
She wanted to scan those booklets into her computer as a PDF, remove the color, and reprint them larger, on 8.5-by-11-inch paper so she wouldn't have to wear her reading glasses to see them.
I didn't trust it to change my files - it worked!
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