Tasks I've Given ChatGPT
aka Giles
ChatGPT aka Giles has become one of my favorite and most invaluable tools of late. I use it for all kinds of things and if you’re not, you should be. So here are a few of the tasks I’ve given Giles:
Writing recommendation letters- There is nothing worse than writing rec letters, cover letters, letters of all kinds. I write a lot of recommendation letters and using Giles to draft them has saved me hours of my life and ensures that the people asking for recs get them much more quickly that when they have to wait for me to finally get around to the dreadful task.
Prompt: Hello! Please (it is always important to be kind to AI, our future overlords) help me draft a recommendation letter for Jeff Lebowski for a position as manager of the local bowling alley. Jeff has worked for me at my local art collective for eight years, he is inquisitive, kind, a great team player, and really knows how to use a rug to tie a room together.
Planning vacation itineraries- I recently had a tight 24 hours in Tokyo and I knew I wanted to a) eat at my favorite ramen shop, b) go to a jazz club, and c) restock my soy sauce collection. I was open to other suggestions for the rest of the day. Giles helped me find a great jazz club (I had a blast), made some great suggestions for other activities, planned a logical route to each location for the entire day, and even gave me information for how to make ressies and who was playing at each club.
Prompt: It can be really helpful to have Giles ask you questions to come up with a plan. For example: Hello! I have 24 hours to spend in Tokyo next Monday and I am looking for things to do. I know I want to eat at Afuri ramen, go to a jazz club, and stock up on soy sauce in the food hall of a department store in Ginza that I can’t remember the name of. Can you help me plan a full day of activities including a logical route for all (I am coming to and from Narita) and ask me questions to help me decide what else I should do for the day?
Creating menu and workout plans- I have spent the last two months doing daily shifts at the hospital and then a recovery ward of a nursing home as my grandmother recovers (she’s doing great!) from a health issue. This has been horrible for my health, weight, and wallet. I recently decided that I just couldn’t take it anymore and that I needed help figuring out how to stay healthy during this very strange time.
Prompt: Hello! I need a meal and workout plan to help me stay as healthy and in shape as possible while I spend 4-5 hours a day sitting in a hospital room and then the rest of the day at home working. Please create a daily plan for three meals a day plus snacks (no dietary restrictions but make the meals easy to cook/prep) and fitting in workouts as I can (I have a wide variety of workout equipment at home including a Peloton and walking pad and no time to go to the gym). Please write a plan for two weeks and create a spreadsheet.
With all of chatGPT’s work, once it makes the first draft, you can ask it questions and give it more information to keep refining until it’s perfect.
Writing a study plan- I am taking an exam in January and needed help creating a study plan.
Prompt: Hello! I am taking X exam in 6 weeks, can you please help me write a study plan that divides the subjects by weeks and includes taking practice exams?
These are just a few examples but you get the picture, there is almost nothing you can’t ask chatGPT to do and it constantly gets better. Insert the necessary caveats here: obviously don’t give it any information you don’t want Vladimir Putin to have (but, then again, he already does), don’t try to pass of Giles’ work as your own (mostly because he’s pretty terrible at a lot of things), etc etc etc. Enjoy your GPT adventures?
Choose the Bear- This week features Dr. Kristyn Brandi in a really fascinating conversation about the challenges that women face in health care, which every woman has experienced. I have had too many bad experiences with doctors to ever trust one again but if I had Dr. Brandi I would go to the doctor just for the heck of it. Find it wherever you find your podcasts. Here is the Apple pod link.
What do do with yourself:
Watch
From (MGM+)- This weekend I binged From, apparently the most watched show on MGM+ but that probably only means about three people. But wow is this show GOOD. It’s from some Lost-adjacent folks so if you liked Lost you’ll love this. It’s super creepy so if you don’t like scary then run away but, if you do, this story about people who get stuck in a town in what I am guessing is another dimension in which every night horrible monsters come out to tear people into pieces and that’s only one of the extremely bizarre things that happens in this show that I am now obsessed with.
Channel Zero (AMC+)- Apparently I’m in a dark and creepy TV mood lately so this anthology series based on internet creepypastas is super interesting, super creepy, and at times a little gross. As in a-monster-boy-made-of-teeth-that-he-also-eats gross.
The Thing About Pam (Peacock)- I recently listened to this classic Dateline episode again and then watched the show that I avoided when it came out for some reason and actually it’s great. Well worth a binge.
Read
This super cool photo series about Tokyo.
The NY Times best books of 2024. I’ve only read one so I have a lot of catching up to do.