This week we’re going to put AI to work on two things that eat a lot of mental energy: researching a major purchase and writing a professional decline email. Both are places where we tend to overthink, procrastinate, and then either rush the decision or avoid it altogether. Used well, AI can act like a patient, reasonably well-informed assistant who helps you think things through, not a pushy salesperson or a robot that spits out fluff.

Try at least one before Sunday. That is the whole assignment.

Use Case 1 of 2

Use Case 1: Researching a major purchase decision

On a Wednesday evening in June, around 9:30 p.m., Maria was doom-scrolling on her couch instead of sleeping. She’s 52, lives in a 1970s house in Ohio, and her central air just died in the first heat wave of the year. The HVAC company came out, confirmed the bad news, and left her with three quotes and a splitting headache.

Quote A was the cheapest, from a smaller local company using a brand she’d never heard of. Quote B was mid-range, from the company her neighbor swears by, with a 10‑year warranty. Quote C was from a big regional firm, the highest price, but they made everything sound very sophisticated and energy-efficient. The techs had rattled off SEER ratings, tonnage, variable speed motors, and rebates. Maria nodded, pretended she understood, and stuffed the paperwork in a drawer.

Now she felt stuck between “I don’t want to be cheap and regret it later” and “I really don’t want to overpay for marketing and buzzwords.” She had 15 browser tabs open - consumer sites, Reddit threads, manufacturer pages - and she still didn’t feel any closer to a decision. She didn’t want AI to choose for her; she wanted help turning this mess into something she could think about clearly.

Here is the exact prompt to use:

Copy and paste this into ChatGPT or Claude:

Copy and paste everything between the lines, then follow the instructions in it. You’ll just replace the bracketed sections with your details.

Use Case 2 of 2

You are my calm, detail-oriented research assistant. I am an adult making a major purchase decision and I need help thinking clearly, not being sold to.

Context: - I am deciding between these options: [Paste or summarize your 2 - 4 options here, including prices, brands, and any quoted details.]

- Here is additional info (specs, notes from salespeople, emails, etc.): [Paste whatever notes, specs, or website text you have. It’s okay if it’s messy.]

My situation and priorities: - Where I live: [briefly describe your climate/location if relevant to the purchase] - My budget range: [give a realistic range or ceiling] - My top priorities: [e.g., reliability, long-term cost, ease of use, warranty, customer support] - My “must nots”: [e.g., I don’t want a subscription, I don’t want to rely on a phone app, etc.]

Task: 1. First, restate my situation in plain English so I can see you understand it. 2. Then, turn all this into a clear comparison table of my options, focused on what actually matters for someone like me (not marketing jargon). 3. Identify the 3 - 5 most important trade‑offs between these options, in normal language. Avoid generic advice. 4. Ask me 3 - 5 specific clarification questions that would meaningfully change your analysis (for example, questions about how long I expect to live here, my tolerance for repairs, etc.). 5. Based on what I’ve told you so far (and noting the limits of online info), give me: - (a) a “safe, conservative” recommendation and why - (b) a “more aggressive / better value if things go right” recommendation and why - (c) a brief explanation of what could make either recommendation turn out to be wrong.

Be concrete, avoid hype language, and assume I prefer fewer, clearer points over a long sales pitch.