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Not long ago, artificial intelligence (AI) was the stuff of science fiction for most people. But today it dominates headlines and has become a common part of everyday life.
This is particularly true for Generative AI, a type of artificial intelligence that creates original content like text, images, videos, audio, and software code by responding to prompts.
You may have heard of ChatGPT, the most popular generative AI tool out there, or perhaps you’ve already started exploring it. What makes it so useful is that there are nearly endless ways to use it. However, this versatility can also feel daunting, especially if you’re new to it.
With that said, we’ve collected some of our favourite ways to use ChatGPT.
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is an advanced AI chatbot launched by OpenAI, an American artificial intelligence company and research lab, back in 2022.
It’s powered by a program called a large language model (LLM) – a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text from websites, articles, books, and other sources totalling billions of words. Through this training, it learns complex language patterns, enabling it to ‘understand’ prompts and generate responses that mimic human conversation.
ChatGPT can perform a wide range of tasks – such as answering questions, translating languages, summarising text, writing creatively, and generating computer code. As well as text, it can also process and generate other types of information, such as images and audio. Newer versions of ChatGPT can even search the web in real time, providing answers to queries in a digestible format.
You can access ChatGPT through your web browser or apps on Android and iOS devices. OpenAI have even introduced the 1-800-CHATGPT service, which allows users to interact with it via a phone call.
What can I use ChatGPT for in everyday life?
As mentioned above, there are many ways to use ChatGPT – too many to list in this article. However, to inspire you, we’ve collected some of our favourites.
1. Improving writing
ChatGPT can create original content based on the prompts you give it – from poems and short stories to cover letters and social media posts. But, in many cases, it’s best used as an assistant to improve your own writing.
For example, if you’re trying to express something but don’t know the right word or phrase to use, why not ask ChatGPT to help? For example, you could use a prompt like: “Give me a word that describes quietly yearning for something just out of reach.” For us, it suggested ‘wistful’.
You can also use ChatGPT for spelling and grammar checking, tweaking tone for specific audiences, and helping with flow or conciseness. Just paste your writing into the prompt field and give it instructions.
To find out more about using ChatGPT to improve your writing, take a look at this article from Wired.
2. Brainstorming
It’s important to remember that ChatGPT and other tools like it can offer answers that sound confident but are actually incorrect or nonsensical (these are called ‘hallucinations’). For this reason, we don’t recommend using it for learning/research purposes, unless you’re prepared to fact-check everything it tells you.
However, it can be a great brainstorming partner when you aren’t relying on it for information, just ideas. Because often, the most challenging part of any task is getting started.
For example, if you’re planning to rearrange your spare room, you could upload a few pictures of the space and ask ChatGPT what layouts it recommends. Or maybe you’re stuck on what to buy a loved one for their birthday and need some inspiration.
The odds are you won’t like every idea ChatGPT suggests. But hopefully, it can provide a helpful starting point.
3. Drafting messages
Whether at work or in our personal lives, many of us spend lots of time drafting messages – from texts to emails. And while most message-writing situations don’t need input from an AI assistant, you might find it handy in some scenarios.
Perhaps you’re emailing a company asking for a refund on a defective item and can’t quite strike the right balance between polite and firm. Or maybe you’re sending out e-invites to a party and want them to be as whimsical as possible. Just remember to read everything through carefully before sending!
4. Excelling in the kitchen
We’ve all come home after a long day and looked in the cupboards to see what we can whip up, only to find some staples and a handful of ingredients that seemingly don’t go together. When you next find yourself in a situation like this, why not tell ChatGPT which ingredients you have and ask it to provide some recipe inspiration?
You can take it even further, asking ChatGPT to plan a low-cost, healthy meal plan for your entire week, plus a shopping list. Or maybe you’d like some menu ideas for your upcoming dinner party. You can also put in any dietary requirements or preferences to help narrow down the options.
It’s worth bearing in mind that ChatGPT-generated recipes probably won’t be as tasty as those developed by people, as food writer Alexandra Domrongchai found when she entrusted it with an entire day’s worth of meals. And it’s best to use a bit of common sense where timings and measurements are concerned, as the AI chatbot can sometimes make some illogical suggestions.
However, the benefits of using AI in the kitchen lie in the convenience, and it might save you time, money, and even a few trips to the shops. For more inspiration, check out our article: 7 ways to use AI in cooking.
5. Entertainment
While ChatGPT can assist us with many tasks, it can also be a great source of lighthearted fun. It’s especially good for playing word-based games, where it can act as the host, a competitor, or even multiple players.
Popular games to try include quizzes, Hangman, and Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon (don’t know what that last one is? Try asking ChatGPT to explain). You can even give it a scenario and ask it to generate an immersive choose-your-own-adventure game. This article from Tom’s Guide has more ChatGPT-powered game inspiration.
Besides games, there are endless ways to use ChatGPT for entertainment – from asking it to tell jokes to creating your own fictional language – so try to be creative. Check out this article from PC World for more ideas.
6. Creating playlists
Another task people are beginning to use ChatGPT for in their everyday lives is creating music playlists.
Of course, creating playlists can be enjoyable in its own right, so you may not always want to outsource it to an AI chatbot. However, it can be a handy time-saver and even help you discover new music.
For best results, add details like genre and mood to your prompt. You might like to include some of the artists or songs you already have in mind and ask ChatGPT to include similar ones. Or why not specify the occasion you’ll be using your playlist for – for example, a family road trip or Christmas get-together?
Now, you can even link your Spotify account to ChatGPT, so it can suggest new music and create playlists based on your listening history. You can learn more about this in this article from Spotify’s newsroom.
7. Planning
Whether you’d like help organising your to-do list in priority order, creating a sustainable study schedule that fits around your life, or arranging an upcoming trip, ChatGPT can be a handy planning buddy.
Example prompt: “Suggest two one-day itineraries for an August trip to Bath, one for wet weather and one for dry weather, with a focus on arts and culture. Our budget is £60 per person, excluding travel costs. Only include wheelchair accessible activities.”
Again, you’ll need to fact-check everything ChatGPT tells you and apply some common sense when interpreting AI-generated plans, as they can be illogical and even dangerous. For example, when helping writer Ash Jurberg plan a holiday to Alaska, ChatGPT suggested that she drive after 24 hours with no sleep. Despite these limitations, it can offer a helpful place to start.
8. Recommendations
We’ve already spoken about using ChatGPT for creating playlists and suggesting new music, but that’s only the beginning. Whether you’re stuck for what to watch on your next movie night or looking for similar books to the one you’ve just read, ChatGPT can help.
Check out this guide from How-To Geek for how to get the best recommendations from ChatGPT.
9. Preparing for a job interview
ChatGPT’s tendency to fib means we don’t recommend using it to research a company before a job interview, unless you’re willing to fact-check everything it tells you. But it can still be useful for job interview preparation.
For example, why not use it to brainstorm your answers or find out common questions for the job/industry you’re interviewing for? You could even give it details from the job description and ask ChatGPT to play the role of your potential interviewer in practice run-throughs.
Just remember not to enter any sensitive, private, or confidential information into ChatGPT, as it might not be secure. For example, it might be used to train models, and could even be reviewed by humans behind the scenes. ChatGPT and similar tools are also not immune to hackers.
For more ideas for using ChatGPT for job interview preparation, check out this article from Forbes.
10. Translation
ChatGPT can translate dozens of languages, including French, Spanish, German, and Chinese.
Depending on the situation, ChatGPT may perform better than Google Translate, many people’s go-to translation tool. This is because it’s generally better at taking into account nuance and context – for example, when translating idioms and colloquial phrases. Its responses can also feel more natural and human-like. However, Google Translate may be a better choice for simple, word-for-word translations.
In a 2023 test, PCMag put ChatGPT, other AI chatbots, and Google Translate to the test, asking bilingual speakers to evaluate their translations. While none of the translation tools were perfect, ChatGPT not only beat Google Translate but the other AI chatbots, too.
While ChatGPT can be handy for translating common world languages (i.e. Spanish and Chinese), it might struggle with languages that have relatively few global speakers, such as Tagalog and Amharic, due to a lack of sufficient training data.
11. Creating and editing images
While it began as strictly a text-based assistant, ChatGPT can now generate and edit images (even the free version).
There are loads of situations where this feature can be useful. For example, you might want to create a bespoke ‘spot the difference’ round for a quiz or generate a few logo ideas for your new side hustle.
Many people are beginning to use ChatGPT’s image generation and editing capabilities for interior design and planning. For example, if you have a vision for your new kitchen and want a mockup to show potential contractors, why not upload an image of your space and ask ChatGPT to bring your ideas to life?
This guide from OpenAI will help you get started with image creation through ChatGPT.
Final thoughts…
It’s easy to see why over 800 million people have started using ChatGPT. From helping us draft messages to inspiring our creative projects, it can be a helpful tool in many aspects of life. Hopefully, this article has given you some inspiration for how to start using it.
However, before experimenting with ChatGPT, it’s important to be aware of its limitations and the dangers it poses when used incorrectly. Due to its impressive language-generating capabilities, it’s tempting to see it as an all-knowing source of information, but it’s best used as a helpful assistant to boost your own thinking and creativity, rather than an expert guide.
To find out more about the limitations of ChatGPT, check out this article from CNET.
Do you use ChatGPT? If so, what have you found it helpful for? We’re interested to hear from you in the comments below.
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