10 New Ways I've Used AI in the Last 30 Days
How Reviewing Your ChatGPT/AI Usage Can Open Up New Opportunities
On Friday, Aug. 23, I had the honor of meeting at lunch with some of my fellow AI enthusiasts here in Fort Smith.
We had some new faces including a retired police officer wanting to know more about AI, a forward-thinking UAFS professor with an active AI policy in his class, and Sarah Ridgley, a generative artist and creative coder whose works are featured in exhibits all over the world.
That includes this one from an exhibit in Venice, Italy:
Sarah is an amazingly kind and talented woman. You should check her work out at SarahRidgley.com.
It was such an honor to meet all of you and to share how we’ve been using AI both personally and professionally since our last monthly AI Mastermind at The Mill. I hope to meet even more of you next month!
Now, in the spirit of our discussion, here are 10 new ways that I’ve used AI in the last 30 days.
1. Calculating Credit Card Repayment
Credit card debt gives me a certain degree of shame, especially at 44 years old. But I want to be real with you all. I have some.
I’ve always found budgeting for every expense, by the month, the easiest way to manage expenses. Unfortunately, some require you to pay all at once, and that can disrupt monthly budget planners like me.
New tires, childcare expenses, unexpected medical debts — life happens. For me, this is one area where ChatGPT has helped.
You can follow that link to see how much debt I have, how clueless I am about calculating APR, and how useful it can be when easily developing a 3- to 12-month repayment plan.
2. Reframing Past Failures
I got married too soon. We had a baby but divorced after nine years. My religious upbringing made me think that if you married a girl from church, it would last. That proved false.
I do not believe that I ever want to get married again after four years of living alone. I just want to focus on career matters: build a profitable AI newsletter or two, write books, create AI-generated video content or podcasts.
I also want to do all this in supplement to my work as a PIO for the Fort Smith Police Department. I would like to work at FSPD until retirement as I believe in the organization and its vision.
How do I find balance with all that and be the father to my 10-year-old that I know I need to be? This is the dilemma that I presented to ChatGPT with one purpose:
Assist me in reframing my past failures or setbacks as positive learning experiences. Begin by asking for specific examples of past challenges or failures that still affect me. Then, analyze these experiences to highlight the lessons learned and how they can empower my future decisions. Provide practical steps to use this new perspective for setting and achieving goals.
3. Exploring Side Hustle Opportunities
For nine years, I was a freelance marketing copywriter, clickbait entertainment writer, education and entertainment blogger, and local business/political journalist.
I became the Public Information Officer in October 2018. My first AI newsletter, Innovation Dispatch, launched in June 2023, around the time I began giving presentations on how to use popular AI tools.
Last month, I started a regular AI Mastermind group at The Mill in Downtown Fort Smith. Along the way, I wrote one horror novel and started to use AI art and Graphic Design tools like Canva and Adobe Creative Suite.
This is the information I provided to ChatGPT for an action plan to explore Side Hustle Opportunities. See the full action plan here.
4. Improving My Quality of Life
Some of my daily habits: review the previous day’s purchases, and track how much I'm spending versus my monthly income.
Daily missteps: I get up too late as a non-morning person. I avoid talking to people until after 9 AM, if at all possible.
People will drop in my office and I can lose almost two hours a day to that. At 2 PM, I meet with my assistant to go over any outstanding FOIA requests.
If traffic accidents or important incidents happen throughout the day, I respond to them immediately. If I have my kiddo for the week, then I go pick her up after 5.
At night, I try to spend quality time with her or by myself depending on whether it’s my custody week.
I like to run. I need to curb drinking to weekends only.
This is the information I provided to ChatGPT with the following request:
Analyze my current schedule, commitments, and relationships. Start by asking me for details about my daily routines, social interactions, and any activities or people that cause me stress or dissatisfaction. Then, identify which of these are misaligned with my values or draining my energy, and provide a detailed action plan for eliminating or minimizing them.
Check out the detailed suggestions here.
5. Translated This Sign from a Mexican Restaurant
After Open House at my daughter’s school, we encountered this sign hanging on the wall at El Toro Mexican Restaurant in Fort Smith.
“What does that say, Daddy?”
Any other time, I’d shrug it off. With ChatGPT, however, I didn’t have to.
“Mexico, beautiful and beloved If I die far from you Let them say that I am sleeping And that they bring me here
6. Bridging Communication Gaps
At a City Play Day hosted by the Fort Smith Department of Parks and Recreation, the Police Department hosted a fun little “ice chest game.” We loaded small toys down with several bags of ice and challenged participants to dig in the ice for one of the toys.
If they found it, they’d get a stuffed animal.
Many tried, many failed, but all had a lot of fun. Then, an Hispanic woman and her toddler son approached. Officer Shoptaw began to explain the rules but received a quick, “No Inglese” in reply.
Disappointed, she walked away toting her cutie pie with her. This would have been a loss at any other time for us. Fortunately, I had Anthropic on call.
I quickly found the woman and showed this translation to her. Her face brightened. “My baby or me?” she asked.
“Either one,” I responded.
Fortunately, she stepped up to the plate and quickly pulled out one of the toys — probably faster than anyone else — and took one of the stuffed toys home to her son.
It was an incredibly gratifying moment that made me realize the power this technology has to bring people together.
7. Showing Sympathy to a Stranger
One of the unfortunate parts of my job with the FSPD is that many family members request information on their deceased loved ones. They think they’d like to see the pictures and videos from their loved ones being discovered.
This is never a good idea. But I understand the sense of loss that drives them. The least I can do is warn them of the severity of what they’re about to see and show some compassion in the process.
That said, it doesn’t come easy. That’s where AI can help. Recently, I had a woman insist on getting the body cameras from her son’s suicide.
Drawing on previous experiences, I asked ChatGPT to craft a message that would accomplish the goal of showing compassion while offering some advanced warning as to what the requester was about to see.
Mrs. [Last Name],
I want to express our deepest sympathies for your loss. Per your request, we have provided the footage, but I must advise you that the content is graphic and may be distressing. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you encounter any issues or if there is anything else we can assist you with during this difficult time.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Position]
[Your Contact Information]
8. Creating Back to School PSAs
Public awareness is an important part of my job as the PIO for a police department. School started back on Aug. 19. Prior to this, I asked ChatGPT for help on coming up with a daily campaign to prepare the city for what lay ahead.
We are the Fort Smith Police Department. Next Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, our city's kiddos head back to school. I need some social media posts for our Facebook account that offer PSAs relevant to Back to School. Put an emphasis on safety please.
The results were pretty good, but a couple of errors stood out.
Post 5: School Zone Safety
🚸 School Zone Safety Reminder 🚸
School zones will be active again starting Monday! Remember, fines are doubled for speeding in school zones, so let's all take it slow and protect our children. Keep your eyes on the road, avoid distractions, and give yourself extra time in the morning. Safety is our top priority! 🛑 #SchoolZoneSafety #BackToSchool #FortSmithStrong
In Arkansas, fines are not doubled. My subject matter knowledge allowed me to catch this and correct the chat to produce something more accurate for our audience.
REVISION — Post 5: School Zone Safety
🚸 School Zone Safety Reminder 🚸
As school begins on Monday, let's prioritize safety in school zones. Remember, speeding in a school zone can result in fines, jail time, or both. For first-time offenders, fines range from $25 to $100, and repeat offenses within a year carry even steeper penalties, including possible suspension of your driver's license. Slow down and keep our kids safe! 🛑 #SchoolZoneSafety #BackToSchool #FortSmithStrong
I also noticed that it included a Stranger Danger warning. However, very few crimes are committed by strangers. Knowing our audience would seize on this, I was able to direct the program to create an alternate post:
Post 4: Safe Routes to School
🛡️ Safe Routes to School
As the school year begins, it's important to plan and practice safe routes for your children to walk or bike to school. Ensure they know the safest streets to take, how to cross at crosswalks, and the importance of staying alert. Walking in groups is always safer, and having a trusted adult or older sibling accompany younger kids can add an extra layer of security. Let’s work together to keep our kids safe this school year! #SafeRoutes #BackToSchool #SafetyTips
9. Writing a Standard Operating Procedure
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) can be complicated when you’re dealing with multiple departments, institutional knowledge, and department-specific formatting.
I won’t bore you with the particulars, but I can give you my workflow.
Recently, I was tasked with developing a SOP for when street closures would be issued by our department. To prevent overburdening our city with street closure notices for alleyways, here’s how I handled it:
Contacted the Streets Department for a list of the city’s highest-traffic streets
Used ChatGPT to alphabetize that list
Fed previous department SOPs to ChatGPT so it could grasp our formatting
Told ChatGPT to create a SOP for significant traffic impact areas using the alphabetized list
Proofread the final product before sending up the chain of command
10. Creating an Invoice
Tell it what you want it to accomplish. Copy and paste the rest. See an example here.
FINAL TAKEAWAY
It’s easy to get caught up in the momentum of daily tasks and projects, especially when we’re integrating powerful tools like AI into our lives. But I’ve found that taking a moment every 30 days to reflect on how I’ve used these tools has been invaluable.
It allows me to see not just what’s working, but where I can make adjustments to use AI more effectively, both personally and professionally. This regular pause for reflection helps ensure that we’re not just using AI for the sake of it but that we’re truly harnessing its potential to improve our lives and work.
So, I encourage you to take some time each month to review your own AI usage — it might just open up new possibilities you hadn’t considered before.