Weird Science
Merry Christmas!!
Let’s play with a shiny new toy for today’s article. I am using an A.I. to help as I create this piece. I’m feeling competent to explore since I’ve had a few hours of experimenting. As I go, I’ll document the steps I’m taking and the missteps I make. I expect it will be a strange ride, so buckle in!
First, I have a topic already selected for today. This article will be a dive into selecting good rules of thumb (or heuristics) to help with life. I’ll use the free Bing Chat, which uses ChatGPT version 4 when it’s in creative mode.
After opening the browser window with Bing, I go to the chat screen and select “creative” mode. I then enter: “Please create several examples of illustrations to describe A.I. working alongside a person. Try for a hyperrealistic and flashy effect.” I got four options and liked this one best. The guy looks like he’s holding a cigarette there, but I didn’t want to risk messing up the rest of the picture to remove it.
Next, I want the AI to generate a couple of lists for me - stages of life and a list of professions. I’ll use these in a little while to help search for rules of thumb relevant to a wide range of professions and differing life stages.
My first stab at getting a list of life stages starts with this prompt: “Please create a list of stages a person usually goes through in the course of a long and eventful life.” and the results are not quite what I had in mind. Here’s a sample:
Infancy (0-2 years): A time of rapid physical and cognitive development, marked by milestones such as first words and steps.
Early Childhood (3-5 years): Continued growth and the beginning of formal education, with the development of social skills and friendships.
Middle Childhood (6-11 years): Further academic learning, honing of interests and hobbies, and understanding of complex social dynamics.
That’s not what I had in mind, so I added some examples to the prompt: “Please create a list of stages a person usually goes through, such as child, teen, young adult, marriage, career, in the course of a long and eventful life.” and the results are getting closer to what I want but still not quite right:
Childhood: A time of learning and discovery, where one begins to form their first memories and understand the world around them.
Adolescence: Marked by the onset of puberty, this stage involves significant physical, emotional, and social changes, as well as the search for personal identity.
Young Adulthood: Often associated with pursuing higher education, starting a career, and establishing independence from parents.
Marriage: For many, this stage involves committing to a life partner and starting a family, though it’s not a universal experience.
A final tweak to the prompt yields what I was looking for: “Please create a list of stages a person usually goes through, such as child, teen, young adult, marriage, career, in the course of a long and eventful life. List only the stages, not definitions or explanations.”
My list is returned: Here is a list of life stages:
Child
Teen
Young Adult
Marriage
Career
Parenthood
Middle Age
Retirement
Senior Years
That’s what I wanted for the first list. I copy it to my notes for later use. Notice that in this case, the prompts and responses took more work than simply typing out the list would have taken. Worthwhile though, because I learn as I go.
Next, I want a list of professions which I’ll step through later in my search for rules of thumb that are specific to a given career. Here’s the initial prompt: “Please create a list of at least 30 professions in a wide variety of categories. Make sure to represent knowledge workers such as project managers and scientists, teachers, students, first responders, etc. Just the generic name for the professions will suffice.”
That prompt produced this list, which was much quicker than typing one out:
Project Manager
Scientist
Teacher
Student
Firefighter
Police Officer
Paramedic
Nurse
Doctor
Engineer
Software Developer
Graphic Designer
Architect
Lawyer
Accountant
Chef
Electrician
Plumber
Carpenter
Mechanic
Pilot
Flight Attendant
Librarian
Social Worker
Pharmacist
Veterinarian
Dentist
Researcher
Journalist
Marketing Specialist
Now that I have my starter lists in hand, I’ll write a prompt to step through each list and search through available resources for rules of thumb or short, pithy, and memorable mental rules, tools, and models to guide decision-making (when the stakes are low enough that it won’t ruin you) to improve your odds of a good outcome.
Here’s the prompt I used: “Using the list of life stages and the list of professions from earlier in this thread, please use your best available resources to create a list of "rules of thumb", "mental models", mental tools and ideas that are helpful and may be particularly helpful within one or more of the listed life stages or professions. The "rules of thumb" should be concise, memorable and clearly express the rule. Step through each stage and profession and provide at least 3 rules each.”
Jackpot! I have a great list of rules as my starting point for the next post. In it, I’ll continue my AI journey as I create a tool to evaluate and score each rule of thumb based on the criteria I will create.
Until then, here are a few examples of the rules of thumb we have to work with so far:
Life Stages:
Child:
Curiosity is key: Encourage exploration and asking questions.
Play is learning: Use playtime as an opportunity for growth.
Routine builds security: Establish consistent routines for comfort.
Teen:
Peer relationships matter: Foster healthy friendships and social skills.
Independence is earned: Gradually increase responsibilities.
Resilience over perfection: Emphasize effort and learning from mistakes.
Professions:
Project Manager:
Clear goals drive success: Define and communicate project objectives.
Risk management is crucial: Anticipate and mitigate potential issues.
Stakeholder engagement: Keep all parties informed and involved.
Scientist:
Skepticism fuels discovery: Question assumptions and seek evidence.
Collaboration accelerates progress: Work with peers across disciplines.
Publish or perish: Share findings to advance knowledge.
With about 90 or so rules of thumb as a starting point next time, I’ll work through prompting to score and rank the rules.
Please rate this post on a scale from zero to ten and tell me how I can improve a notch next time.