Resources

Your friendly AI toolkit

A few handy things to keep close as you learn. Everything here works in ChatGPT, free, and no special words needed.

Starter prompts

Copy any of these into ChatGPT and change the words in brackets to fit you.

Writing

A warm thank-you

Write a short, warm thank-you note to my neighbour for bringing us soup. Keep it friendly and under 3 sentences.

A polite email

Help me write a polite email to my landlord asking to fix the leaking tap. Keep it calm and under 4 sentences.

A birthday message

Write a friendly birthday message for my granddaughter who is turning ten.

Understanding

Explain it simply

Explain this in plain, simple words: (paste the confusing sentence here).

What does this word mean?

What does this word mean, in everyday language: (the word)?

Shorten a long message

Summarise this into 3 short, simple points: (paste the long message here).

Planning

Easy dinners

Give me 3 easy dinners I can make with eggs, bread, and cheese. Keep the steps short.

A packing list

Make me a simple packing list for one night away. I just need the basics.

Questions for the doctor

Help me write 5 short, clear questions to ask at my next doctor's visit about my knee.

Everyday

A bedtime story

Tell me a short, gentle bedtime story for a 6-year-old about a kind little fox.

Make it friendlier

Reword this to sound warmer and friendlier: (paste your message here).

A small kind idea

Suggest one small, kind thing I could do for someone today. Keep it simple.

Words you'll hear

The handful of words people use about AI, in plain English.

Short for “artificial intelligence.” A free helper you talk to by typing, it answers questions in plain words.

ChatGPT

The AI tool we recommend to start. It's free, and it's the friendliest place to begin.

Prompt

Just the message you type. “Write me a short list” is a prompt, nothing fancier.

Chatbot

A tool you chat with by typing. ChatGPT is one.

Account

Your own space, that you sign into with an email address.

“Sign up” means make it for the first time. “Log in” means come back to it later.

Free vs Plus

The free version is plenty to start. “Plus” is a paid extra you do not need yet.

Staying safe & in control

A short, calm checklist. Keep it in mind and you'll be just fine.

Never type passwords, bank or card numbers, or full account numbers.

Leave out full names, addresses, and health details when you can.

The free version is all you need, never enter a card just to “try” it.

Use AI to understand things, letters, words, choices, in plain language.

For money, health, legal, or big decisions: let AI explain, but ask a real person to decide.

AI can sound sure and still be wrong. Double-check anything that really matters.

New to all this? Start with “What is AI, in plain words”, it takes about four calm minutes. Have a question? Visit the FAQ.