Using AI to report on the contents of clipboards

Macro Library
1

I have just written a macro that has had me laughing out loud (really) for about 24 hours! So I have to share it. It’s very short, but it requires the assistance of two macOS shortcuts, which I will include in screenshots below. Here is the short KM macro:

image
image1276×1720 177 KB

And here are the two macOS shortcuts that you have to create for this to work:

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image1488×674 71.6 KB

and…

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image1488×648 72.1 KB

The reason these macros are making me laugh is because every time my clipboard changes, I hear an audio message describing the contents of the clipboard that I just created. Here are some examples of what I hear:

  • “This is a screenshot of a macro that processes text”
  • “An image of a frog eating a dragonfly”
  • “A screenshot of shortcuts with colourful icons”
  • “This command checks the Xcode license agreement on a macOS system”

It’s really hilarious and powerful. Sometimes it tells me what a fragment of code is actually doing, even if that code isn’t a piece of text, but an image.

Notice that one of my macros says “in less than 25 words”. I did that because I found some of the descriptions were too long for my taste. But you can change that value if you want. I just find that 25 words is good for my needs.

As for the “>0” calculation in my KM macro, that seemed to help me in cases where the clipboard was empty. You may not need it, but I suggest you keep it.

I will try to paste a copy of my KM macro below, but you will have to type the other shortcuts manually.

Describe Clipboard Macro (v11.0.4)

Describe Clipboard.kmmacros (4.0 KB)

P.S. Technically, you don’t need the “Stop and Output” actions, but I included them because I was thinking of adding additional features in the future.

A suggestion for basic Apple Intelligence support in Keyboard Maestro
2

Apple will, eventually, impose usage limits on PCC -- so you may want to limit the trigger to when you want it, not every Clipboard change! (Or give local processing a try.)

But yes, enjoy your giggles while they last :wink:

3

Great point, thanks. I used it approximately 200 times in a row on medium size images with no problem. Perhaps my limits are higher than others’ because I’m an Apple One subscriber, and my Mac is logged into my iCloud+ account right now.

Approximately 5% of the time it partially mis-described a random image from the Internet. But about 2% its description noticed something important in the image that I didn’t see, and I would be wowed.

4

You're OK now, but Apple said during the WWDC Siri AI announcement that PCC use would be managed (my words, not theirs) -- presumably on a model similar to Anthropic's with some/day if you have a free Apple ID, more if you are iCloud+, more more if you are an Apple One subscriber.

IIRC there was something along the lines of "for example, iCloud subscribers will be able to generate up to 30 images per day".

As I said, "eventually". No need to panic yet!