Something unexpected happened recently as I was filing my taxes: AI helped. It even caught an error that my human accountant missed.

This was surprising because when I decided to test out a free tax return chatbot, I expected it to tell me to, I don’t know, write off my dog as a business expense and pay my IRS bill in magic beans.

I can’t say it’s the first time I’ve underestimated AI’s ability to be useful in my everyday life. I made fun of this simple AI-powered family meal planning app, and several months later, it’s gotten good enough that I’m using it on a weekly basis. I used to blankly stare at ChatGPT’s empty prompt field, unable to think of anything I might want an AI to do, and now, that box is on my screen at all times as I bounce ideas off the language model, like it’s a half-useful intern.

I don’t trust the AI. But I don’t ignore it, either.

AI is still bad at a lot of things. I encounter hallucinations and inaccurate answers almost every time I use it, so I double-check everything, which takes time. I never believe anything I read on the internet at first glance, anyway. Still, on balance, AI is now saving me so much time and improving my workflow so much that I don’t mind.

The latest AI models are getting good enough that it’s more than worth it to find ways the software can make your life easier. Fielding your most pressing tax questions is a great example of a job AI can try.

The tax bots are helpful — and pretty restrained

For the 2023 tax year, both TurboTax and H&R Block launched AI-powered chatbots to help customers file their taxes. The tools did not impress Washington Post tech columnist Geoffrey Fowler, who called the chatbots “unhelpful” and, more to the point, “awful.” The companies rolled out the tools before they were finished, and they served up plenty of “bad advice,” Fowler said in a review last spring. I believe him, but I also had a different experience testing the tools this time around.

After last year’s reported goof-ups, TurboTax and H&R Block updated their tax bots. They appear to be less bad........

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