AI got me through a Mahjong table of strangers and helped save tiny event photos

This week, I walked into a Final Fantasy XIV game expecting computer opponents and found real people who knew what they were doing. I also tried to make tiny event photos usable without changing what actually happened in them.

AI helped me survive a Doman Mahjong table full of real players

I entered Doman Mahjong for an in-game reward, barely knowing how to play ordinary Mahjong. When the table loaded, I realized I was facing live players, and I worried I'd look like someone there to spoil their game. I grabbed my phone, asked Eric, my AI assistant, for the basics, and listened to the answer while I played. I lost badly and got my reward.

What I got out of it: The campaign reward, a shred of dignity intact, and enough curiosity to want to learn the game properly.

Why AI was useful: Eric explained the basics as the table loaded, and I could listen to them on my phone while I played.

AI helped me clean up tiny event photos without changing what really happened

The event photos I had were fuzzy 320-by-240-pixel copies. I asked for larger originals, but I also wanted to see whether these could be made usable. I rejected the first cleanup, which looked no better, and asked AI for a stronger upscale and sharpening pass that kept the real photos intact. The next pass was noticeably better. I used four on my website and submitted those four to Google Business for review.

What I got out of it: Four clearer, still-authentic photos I could use on my website.

Why AI was useful: It handled the image cleanup I couldn't easily do by hand, without using an image generator to remake faces or the scene.