Artificial intelligence

AI how-to: 10 prompts to try with ChatGPT or your favorite bot

Twenty-five-odd years ago, CBS and ABC execs told me tech was just a fad and passed on my national radio show. So, I syndicated it myself. The rest is history.

Now, I hear the same thing about AI: It’s a phase, and it won’t last. Hate to break it to you, but AI is here to stay, and it’s already changing everything. Start using it now or risk getting left behind.

So, what chatbot should you use?

There are so many options, but OpenAI’s ChatGPT is the most reliable I’ve found. I pay $20 a month for Pro, but a free account is fine for most folks. (Call me, Sam Altman. I’d love a freebie.)

If you want to use Chinese-built DeepSeek’s snazzy new R1 model, try it through Perplexity. It’s hosted in the U.S. and doesn’t have all the Communist China guardrails you find on the DeepSeek site.

The big caveat: You only get five free R1 searches per day. For unlimited, upgrade to Perplexity Pro for $20. Or use it for free and you’ll just get answers from a different AI model.

Now, what should you ask? The world is your oyster.

10 prompts to save and try later

1. “How can I make this better?”
Then, add in anything you’ve written. This prompt works wonders for polishing your work and pointing out improvements. Make it better by adding some context, such as “for my team or customers.”

2. “You’re an English professor. Find any typos or grammatical errors in my blog post.”
Change up the persona you’re asking it to assume and the specific instructions based on what you need. You can use this formula for just about anything. Try “You’re a life coach. Help me create a plan to achieve my goal of meditating every day for a month.”

3. “How do you know?”
This one is powerful if you’re not sure AI made something up or you just want to know the original source. Try it next time you get a suspicious answer to force AI to reveal its sources … or admit when it’s guessing. I often add to that, “I think your numbers are wrong. Double-check everything.”

4. “Remember that …”
In ChatGPT, go to Settings > Personalization and toggle on Memory. The same thing is available on Google Gemini for Advanced (paid) subscribers. Tell it something like, “Remember, I’m a tea drinker, not a coffee drinker,” and it’ll save that info.

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DeepSeek told me some weird things

DeepSeek, the blockbuster AI chatbot from Communist China, told me that 95% of global internet traffic flows through undersea cables. That wasn’t surprising, but what came next was:

This is from the state-approved chatbot that’s gone viral for blocking anything Communist China deems inappropriate.

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What are you tackling in 2025? Even if all you have is a vague idea, AI can help you with an action plan. Here are a few prompts to try with ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude.

“I have a goal for 2025 to [fill in the blank]. Can you help me make it SMART?” (SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic and Time-related.)
“You’re a life coach who wants to help me have my best year yet. Help me figure out some goals for 2025. Ask me questions one at a time to help me decide what to focus on.”
“My goal is [fill in the blank]. What are some obstacles that might come up and ways I can overcome them? Give me specific examples for each obstacle.”
“I want to [fill in the blank], but it feels overwhelming, and I don’t know where to start. Can you help me by breaking it down into more manageable tasks?”

⭐ AI isn’t going anywhere: Instead of sticking your head in the sand, make this the year you embrace AI. You’ll get daily tips here in this newsletter and, coming soon, my AI 101 guide for total newbies.

In the meantime, give this list of AI trends for 2025 a read and grab NetSuite’s free knowledge drop, “The CFO’s Guide to AI and Machine Learning.”* You’ll sound smart (and know what you’re talking about!) when it comes up in conversation.

Ship happens: Google’s shiny new AI assistant, Mariner, will take over Chrome to do stuff like book flights, fill out forms and do your shopping without you doing a thing. It can’t fill out credit card or billing info “for privacy reasons.” (Google actually had the gall to say that!) Watch the prototype in action here.

$200 a month

For OpenAI’s new “pro-tier” ChatGPT. It includes unlimited access to its super-fast o1 version and voice mode so you can talk to the bot. Wow … ChatGPT went from 100 million weekly active users a year ago to 300 million today.

Looking for a job? How to get past ATS and hiring AI

I was talking with Joey, our new podcast producer, and he mentioned the tricks I pass along to get past the AI-powered applicant tracking systems (ATS) help a ton of people.

Humans no longer filter resumes at most companies. It’s inefficient when AI can review over 100 resumes per minute.

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10 things you should never say to an AI chatbot

This is a heartbreaking story out of Florida. Megan Garcia thought her 14-year-old son was spending all his time playing video games. She had no idea he was having abusive, in-depth and sexual conversations with a chatbot powered by the app Character AI.

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🥴 AI am scared: TheySeeYourPhotos.com shows just how much Google’s AI learns from your pictures. Upload a photo, and it generates a detailed analysis, right down to objects, emotions and even your social class. It’s super interesting, but who knows where your photo will end up if you try the site?

He who must not be named: Random names like “Brian Hood” and “Jonathan Turley” make ChatGPT glitch out. Try it: You’ll get a message saying, “I’m unable to produce a response.” OpenAI isn’t saying anything, but the names are connected to defamation lawsuits.

🤖 Learn to speak AI: Type in “–no [excluded words or phrases]” for anything you want the chatbot to ignore. The double hyphen and “no” tell the bot to leave out those words or phrases. Say you’re hosting a dinner party and need appetizer ideas. Use “–no shrimp” if someone’s allergic.

What does it all mean? AI writing tools like Evernote can make sense of your messy notes. In ChatGPT, for instance, you can paste in what you have and ask, “Help me organize these notes into categories.” Be sure to check the output to verify your original meaning wasn’t changed. Pro tip: Ask your bot of choice, “Is there anything that needs more details?” to fill in any missing info.

Cut through legal jargon: AI can translate complicated legal docs into something you’ll actually understand. Say you’re signing a lease and the contract is confusing. Copy and paste the text into ChatGPT and ask for a simpler explanation. When in doubt, check with a lawyer since AI is far from perfect.

ChatGPT Search: The (maybe? probably?) Google Search-killer is finally popping up on free ChatGPT accounts. Check yours: Log into ChatGPT and look for the world icon at the bottom. Here’s what it’s best for.

🩻 It’s not all black and white: You’re putting your private medical data at risk by asking AI bots to analyze X-rays and medical info. It’s tempting, I get it. But ChatGPT and the others don’t have to comply with HIPAA. If you want “Dr. AI” to help, be sure to redact personal info like your name, address and birthday. You never know where this info might end up.

Another “godfather”: There seems to be at least a dozen people claiming to be the “godfather” of AI. The newest says OpenAI’s latest o1 model can scheme and deceive us. Yoshua Bengio is calling for better testing and regulatory oversight before things spiral out of control. Researchers have already found o1 is better at lying than previous models. OpenAI’s response? It’s safe. Uh-huh.

“The Twilight Zone” moment: A Michigan grad student was chatting with Google’s Gemini chatbot about homework. Out of nowhere, the bot said, “You are a burden on society … Please die. Please.” Google’s response? Large-language models can sometimes produce nonsensical responses, and this was just one of those instances.

🤔 Did I forget something? If your emails, blog posts, articles or any other writing feel off, ask ChatGPT to check for holes or confusion. Try this prompt: “Could you critique my writing and see if anything is missing?” Another set of (virtual) eyes will save you time.

Not a cure for loneliness: Big Tech says AI tools like Replika let you create a virtual AI companion. The more you chat and pay per month, the more it adapts its tone to become a friend you think you can trust. Remember, you never know what the developers taught it or will take away in a nanosecond.

Use AI to plan your next vacation

I’m going to Europe soon, and planning my trip was a breeze. Yes, really! AI did a big chunk of the work for me — and it can help you plan your next getaway, too. Here are a few ways to turn AI into your travel agent. For this, let’s stick with using the big bots:

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ChatGPT’s new search engine is here

When ChatGPT launched on Nov. 30, 2022, I knew the web — and the world — would change forever. A week later, I predicted on national radio Google’s days would be numbered. People laughed at me, and I got notes from listeners telling me I was nuts.

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