#burdenofchoice

Like any good tech professional, I jumped on the ChatGPT/Generative AI wagon in the last few years. I've used it for packing lists, project plans, job descriptions, product comparisons.... All these "applications" or uses of GenAI used information the AI grabbed from the internet. It didn't occur to me until this morning that I could feed it information and ask it to build me something -- something I knew I could code, but would take me a while to write all the arguments/rules/randomizing formulas.

So, this morning, I fed it lists of Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners, and Sides that I had stored in a spreadsheet. I gave it some rules about things that shouldn't be paired together, told it certain days should include certain things, and asked it to generate me a meal plan. And... it did a really good job.

This same method of writing a plan, with randomization, could be used for:

building outfits from your wardrobe

making a workout plan based on your equipment, target areas, and favorite exercises

selecting items to remove/defrost from your freezer stores

selecting board games from your collection for a weekly game night

building your work time blocks based on your to-do list.

writing a travel plan with places you'd like to visit during vacation

For the meal application, you could also take it a step further and have it build a shopping list/checklist to ensure you have everything in the meal plan either on hand or listed for shopping.

This is a pretty exciting application of GenAI as a personal assistant that arranges your schedule and time. Another step toward personal automation and delegation that helps remove some of the burden of choice.

Perhaps this is the start of a beautiful relationship....

For those who'd like to try it out and aren't sure how to write their prompts, below is a sample of the prompts I used after preparing lists of items in a spreadsheet.