Simplify the holiday season’s stress with ChatGPT

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The holiday season is synonymous with family, friends, delicious meals and ... stress.

Many people enter this time of year with mixed emotions. The traditions are fun, but there's work to be done: cooking meals, planning travel, selecting gifts and so much more.

Artificial intelligence can help ease that burden.

Need to look up flights and find the right accommodations? No problem.

How about finding recipes? No more scouring the internet; AI will serve them up in seconds.

Gift ideas? They're at your fingertips.

AI, specifically tools like ChatGPT, has evolved into a personal assistant, able to quickly round up detailed information and offer plenty of workable suggestions.

Just log onto ChatGPT.com or download the free app on your phone. With a couple of quick prompts, you're in.

Kenny Trusnik, president and CEO of Forest City Digital, says AI can lend a hand during the busiest season of the year.

"Treat it like a travel planner or a travel adviser," Trusnik said. "I would start by helping it understand its role. As a user, prompt it by saying, 'You're a travel adviser, and I need help with my itinerary.'"

Then start telling it where you're going. Traveling from Cleveland to Miami? Half a dozen people coming, including two young kids? Just type that in, and the program will begin to flow with the details you need.

It really is that easy. AI can organize entire travel plans simply by being asked questions like, "Can you help me find direct flights?" or "I need accommodation recommendations in Miami, Florida."

When it comes to safety and privacy, Trusnik urges everyone to exercise caution with their personal information.

"You shouldn't be afraid to use (AI), but you should be cautious in what you try to use it for," he advises, suggesting that people don't enter sensitive details they wouldn't want stored on the internet.

While he believes in the value of AI, he acknowledges that users should "self-govern" by limiting sensitive data shared with these tools.

With ChatGPT's public GPTs - pre-configured prompts for specific uses like travel - Trusnik said, "You can explore any public GPT that's been created and is available to you."

For those unfamiliar with AI jargon, Trusnik boils it down:

"It's software that has human-like responses and the ability to quickly research and scour the internet to help provide you answers very, very quickly."

Trusnik believes AI is useful because it adapts to human language, allowing users to be less precise than with other virtual assistants.

"You can treat it like you're talking to another person," he said.

Of course, it takes a leap of faith to trust an AI program to help plan everything from travel to meal recipes. If you have 15 people in your extended family relying on you, the pressure is already on.

What if AI makes a mistake that ultimately upends your holiday?

"In theory, you should be able to rely on its responses," Trusnik said. "If you want to fact-check it, you can ask for its references."

For those with nightmarish images from sci-fi movies playing in their brains, Trusnik offers reassurance: This isn't "Terminator."

"AI isn't here to replace human insight, but to amplify what we can accomplish," he says.

And while there are plenty of other AI programs that can assist you in your holiday planning needs, Trusnik says ChatGPT is a great place to start because it's so easy to use.

Perhaps it will make your holiday a little easier too.