When it comes to hobby we tend to ask each other to send a link to the product in advance of the gifting occasion. It takes the surprise out of the event, but you get something which you can actually use.
For other gifts, try to keep a log or notes. And yes, gift cards are also very nice.
Jup, most definitely!
I’d much rather have just one unhinged uncle at St. Martin’s Day than having everybody come off as the unhinged uncle by lack of supervision of the LLMs talking in your place, making it seem like being unhinged is normal and thereby creating artificial peer pressure in a truly wicked exercise of laziness.