How to use AI to keep your New Year's resolutions

Why it matters: In the near term, at least, you're probably less likely to lose your job to AI than to lose it to someone who understands how to use AI, so you might as well experiment with it.

• If you diligently set resolutions to do more of something, you can use ChatGPT to track and remind you to do those things.
• You can ask Google Gemini to create events in your Google Calendar to block off time for your resolutions.
• If you want to do less of something and feel tempted to do it anyway, you can message or use voice chat with any of the big bots for support.
• OpenAI will even let you video chat (sort of) or call ChatGPT for support.

Between the lines: Many psychologists and productivity experts suggest that an effective way to keep resolutions is to make them "SMART": specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

I tried this prompt: "I would like to eat better. Turn this into a SMART goal," and ChatGPT responded:

To turn "I would like to eat better" into a SMART goal (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound), here's a suggestion:

SMART Goal: "I will eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day and replace sugary snacks with healthier options (like nuts or yogurt) at least five days a week for the next three months to improve my overall diet and well-being."

Breakdown:

• Specific: Focuses on fruits, vegetables, and reducing sugary snacks.
• Measurable: Five servings and five days per week are clear targets.
• Achievable: Practical changes rather than an extreme diet.
• Relevant: Tied to your desire to eat better and improve health.
• Time-bound: A three-month timeline sets a clear endpoint for evaluation.

Anthropic's Claude and Google's Gemini gave similar results, but both suggested a 30-day timeline instead of three months, and Gemini added a warning that it did not provide medical advice.

One of the biggest differences between searching the web and prompting a chatbot is that you can have a conversation with the chatbot.

• I prompted ChatGPT to give me a weekly meal plan to help me achieve this goal. I added that I was a pescatarian.
• The pescatarian meal plan it gave me was good, but one recipe contained lentils, and I am not a fan. So I asked for another recipe.
• It offered a replacement and updated its memory so it will (I hope) never suggest another lentil again.

Zoom in: Chatbots are like endlessly patient, eager-to-please personal assistants.

• Once you have a meal plan you can ask most chatbots to alter it for more protein, less fat, more affordable ingredients, and so on.
• Then you can ask the chatbot to give you a grocery list and it will even tell you which aisle to find each item.
• Then you can ask it for 10 or 1,000 different meal plans. The chatbot will not get overwhelmed (but you might).

Zoom out: You can use similar prompts to help you exercise more, drink less alcohol, drink more water, spend less time mindlessly scrolling, read more books, or do more or less of just about anything you've resolved to do more or less of.

Most chatbots speak multiple languages so they're ideal if your resolution is to learn a new one.

A spokesperson for OpenAI suggested this prompt: "I want to learn [specific skill or language], and I'd like you to act as my personal coach. Please help me create a structured learning plan with weekly goals and daily exercises tailored to a beginner level. Include explanations, examples, and practice activities for each step. "

• If you're having trouble keeping this goal use this prompt: "Provide tips for staying motivated and recommend external resources or tools that complement your guidance. At the end of each week, assess my progress and adjust the plan as needed. Let's start with an overview of [the skill or language] and the first week's plan."

A spokesperson for Anthropic offered this set of prompts for keeping language learning goals: "Hi Claude! I want to learn Spanish this year. I can practice for about 30 minutes each day, usually in the evenings. I'm a complete beginner and my goal is to order food in Spanish when I visit Mexico next year. Can you help me make a learning plan?"

• Once a week, tell Claude how you're doing. For example: "Hey Claude! This week I learned the Spanish words for different foods, but I'm having trouble remembering them. Can you suggest some fun ways to practice these words?"
• You can also ask Claude to create simple practice dialogues for real situations, 15-minute daily exercises, ways to practice while doing everyday tasks and creative ways to keep at it.

Yes, but: If your resolutions involve spending less time immersed in your digital devices, using AI to keep you on goal could be tricky.

• Also, generative AI is a notorious energy hog, and all of our prompts have a significant impact on the environment.
• You may want to check your chatbot-of-choice's privacy policy and practices.