Hello!Another edition of About Technology: AIa pop-up newsletter about artificial intelligence, how it works, and how to use it.
Last week, I showed you how to use AI to prepare for that dreaded office meeting. Now it’s time to spend your hard-earned money and move on to something more fun: shopping.
For many people, the most time consuming part of shopping is the research process. I comb through review sites to pick the one that’s right for me, whether it’s a coffee appliance or a convenient, affordable hotel room.
Learn how AI can help you make informed purchasing decisions quickly and efficiently. This exercise will focus on conducting product research using chatbots such as Microsoft’s Bing, Google’s Bard, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. We’ll also show you how to use the recently developed ChatGPT plugin to create your grocery list and plan your trip.
product research
Let’s say you like to brew coffee in a French press and are looking to buy a grinder for under $200. A typical research process is to do a web search and read tons of reviews.
AI chatbots can streamline this process. Microsoft’s Bing and Google’s Bard are connected to search engines by default and currently have the best features for getting the latest product recommendations.
As always, good prompts give the best results. For this example, enter: “Acting as a shopping assistant. I’m looking for a coffee grinder for my French press that has good reviews. It should cost less than $200.” List examples.
You can even ask the chatbot tough questions like which appliances last longer. You can enter something like “Act as a shopping assistant.” I am looking for a refrigerator. Which brand has the highest reliability rating and what refrigerators are well rated by that brand?”
The bot tells you which appliances have the highest reliability ratings from publications like Consumer Reports and The Times’ Wirecutter.
When using chatbots, it’s a good idea to check if the results are accurate. However, doing a web search and double-checking the bot’s recommendations is much faster than manually searching from scratch.
grocery shopping
Now let’s talk about the future. OpenAI is developing a plugin platform, which is essentially a third-party app store that can add functionality to ChatGPT. Currently, only subscribers who pay $20 per month for ChatGPT Plus can use plugins, including plugins for web browsing and shopping.
To use the plugin if you are a paying subscriber, please visit ChatGPT. From the Settings menu, click Beta Features and turn on Plugins. Then on the ChatGPT app or website,[GPT-4]Go to tab,[プラグイン]Click. Then click the down arrow and select Plugin Store. You can search for apps here. Let’s start with grocery delivery app Instacart.
Try typing a prompt like “I’m making pasta Bolognese.” What are good recipes and ingredients? ” The chatbot lists ingredients for cooking and suggests creating a shopping list.
Another interesting way to use this plugin is to work around dietary restrictions. For example, “I’m cooking dinner for a pescatarian. Please give me suggestions and ingredients.” The bot will suggest a meal (in my case lemon garlic butter shrimp) and list the ingredients.
Clicking on your shopping list will take you to your Instacart where you can automatically add all items to your cart and choose which grocery store to buy from.
Even if you don’t want to pay for ChatGPT Plus, you can still use AI for grocery shopping. Ask Bing for a recipe, then ask for a shopping list of the ingredients you need. One particularly neat trick is to ask them to organize their shopping list by grocery aisle.
travel planning
Travel sites like Kayak and Expedia also have plugins to help you plan your trip. For example, let’s say you’re looking for a highly rated hotel within walking distance of a tourist area, up to $500 a night. This process usually involves researching reviews and perusing maps.
Try the Expedia plugin as a shortcut.
“I’m traveling to Florence, Italy starting in July. Find a hotel with good reviews within walking distance to attractions. Budget $500 per night.” We’ve provided a list of 9+ highly-rated Expedia hotels near attractions such as Cathedral del Fiore.
You can also search for flights using the Expedia plugin. For example, “I’m flying from San Francisco to Milan, Italy on July 28th. What’s the best option if I have a short layover?” ChatGPT loads Expedia results for the shortest flight. I returned three flights of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines, but each connection time was within 2 hours. (I also tried the same prompt on Bard and Bing, but it gave me generic information and an inaccurate ticket price. It didn’t help!)
what’s next?
Next week, we’ll talk about how you can use AI to organize your life.
