Why I Love GenAI for the Home
Curious about generative AI - but a bit embarrassed to ask? I've put together seven no-fail prompts on how to make Generative AI a productive addition to your family!
Back in 1993, while working on my master’s degree, I got an early look at the Internet—still two years away from going mainstream. While sipping coffee in my New Jersey apartment, I used a dial-up modem to Telnet into CARL, the Colorado Alliance for Research Libraries to do research. The library emailed me copies of the selections I wanted via SquirrelMail. It was a wonky workflow but powerful. And besides no longer having to go outside if I didn’t want to - I also felt like I was on the inside of a “new” literacy.
We are on that brink of another technical leap with artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI. Like the web, the fundamentals of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and generative AI (GenAI) were born in the 1960s. Each has taken decades to get into the public view.
Generative AI is best known for being able to produce human-like - or conversational answers. It does so by using a large language model (LLM) at its core. An LLM is a collection of algorithms that is trained on massive amounts of data, e.g. a good portion of the Internet. The first “consumer” version was ChatGPT by OpenAI, introduced almost two years ago.
It set off a flurry of investments and developments, and now several big companies have their own GenAI products. And because it’s early there are a lot of choices right now. Some free, some almost free. Feel free to experiment.
You may have noticed a flood of ads – particularly during the Olympics – by both Google and Microsoft for their respective GenAI products, Gemini and Copilot. Co-pilot is a tool that integrates across all your Office documents so your answers are “grounded” by using your data. Gemini is being touted for its ability to research, explain, and create. Although it managed to create a viral PR disaster when it suggested that a child’s heart-felt words would be inferior to Gemini’s “perfect” fan letter.
That’s a no. Never. Don’t do that. Heartfelt-generated is hands-down better than machine generated.
But Gemini’s hiccup doesn’t mean we should fear generative AI. Like the web, it’s a tool – that can provide marvelous efficiencies. And like the web, I use GenAI every day – in what seems to be a zillion different ways. Previously, I wrote about what you need to be wary of, so here I’m focused on all its goodness.
Unless indicated otherwise, I am using ChatGPT Plus – it’s $20/month – but there is a free trial. But you can use these ideas on almost any GenAI tool you choose.
Prompting
Before I get into what you can do with GenAI - let’s talk about prompting—because prompts are the new black. Keywords are so last decade. Instead, prompts are human-like questions that you use when interacting with a GenAI tool. This is as opposed to the few-words query you would use with Google and Alexa.
The secret to getting the most out of Generative AI? It’s all about crafting those super specific prompts. The more context, the better. If you are planning a menu or a trip – include how many people, their ages, allergies, things they hate, things they love. Yes, that means prompts in GenAI might be an entire essay (although bullets are fine).
And when in doubt, feel free to ask “how should I best describe this to you - so I get the output I want?”
Here’s the thing – you can’t break it – and there are no dumb questions! I just got a note from someone who just started using ChatGPT – and she is hooked!
I’ve provided some prompt ideas for your home to get you going. I’d love to know how you make out!
GenAI at Home
Below is just a handful of ways you can use generative AI around your home.
Menu-Planning
Yep, I actually do this. I started for fun – asking it to create a 5-course Korean bbq, and then just got into it. I can have it suggest menus, organize a shopping list, provide prep times, and offer ingredient substitutes. Comes in handy when you need to create a gluten-free, lactose-free, keto menu for 9, or fun, seasonal mocktails that must use jalapeño but not mint!
You can even have it create an invite around a theme.
Trip-Planning
There’s so many ways to research a trip on the web. Usually it requires jumping from site to site, bookmarking pages (or in my case just leaving an open tab) and then trying to assemble in your head. Instead, I type in my prompt the where, the who is going (ages if traveling with children or any special accessibility accommodations), the duration, and any special interests. The more specific, the better the outcomes. Of course, you can always look at the results - and tell it to omit, embellish, or try again.
Kid Stuff
I’ve already written about some family-friendly prompts, but I came up with a new one.
My grand-niece (age 5) was visiting, so I used Chat-GPT’s “Coloring Book Hero” app. I haven’t really liked the ChatGPT image tool DALL-E for much - but they did a good job with this. I prompted it to create a coloring book for a 5-year old girl who loves science and the ocean, who is of Philippine decent and has short dark hair and bangs. I loved the output so much - I created 10-pages that I am binding, and had it create a birthday card for her too!
Homework Help
Parenting is hard - and harder when you have a kid who is struggling. And harder too, if you can’t remember the difference between a polygon and a proof.(Or was that just me?) In any event, there’s a ChatGPT app called CK-12Flexi, created by CK12, to the rescue. The non-profit has been creating educational materials in multiple languages across math and science since 2008 - and is recognized by the American Association of School Librarians.
Birthday Party Planning
God I hated planning birthday parties. First, I didn’t have the money and was lousy at coming up with themes. “Why do you need a theme for boys?” my husband unhelpfully asked. Answering his questions and planning was all energy I didn’t want to expend. My kids are grown now, but curious, I wrote a prompt that asked for a theme and ideas for an 8-year old boy’s birthday party on a budget of $50. It offered a pirate’s theme complete with goodie bag of chocolate gold coins and eye patches. Damn. I coulda used this.
Creating Car Trip Games
Just put in a prompt of participant ages and location - and ask for ideas. I had it create a bingo card for a Shenandoah Valley trip (ostensibly I could ask it to create several).
Role Playing
You can make history come alive by putting in a prompt that asks for a dialog with historic figures - on any subject you can think of. Imagine a thoughtful conversation between Kamala Harris and Rosa Parks on running for president. Or a conversation between Napoleon and General Patten on overcoming military losses.
I’ d love to know how you made out - and what prompts you did!
