Using ChatGPT in everyday life

You apply the same basics to private life, study, work, and a potential business idea.

After this chapterAfter this chapter, you can choose appropriate tasks and use ChatGPT without handing over decisions blindly.

Your progress0 of 48 lessons

4.1

Messages and emails

Let ChatGPT create a draft and check facts, relationships, and desired action.

A good communication prompt includes recipient, occasion, desired action, and tone. Do not paste full sensitive correspondence if a short summary suffices.

Check names, dates, amounts, promises, and emotional charge before sending. ChatGPT does not know the relationship as you do.

Recipient
Reason
Desired action
Fact check
Human final editing

How you can use this

Personal use: reschedule an appointment. Work: write a follow-up email. Entrepreneurship: answer an initial customer question without making an unconfirmed promise.

Try this prompt

Write a draft message to [recipient]. Reason: [situation]. Desired action: [action]. Tone: [tone]. Maximum [length]. Use only the facts I provide.

Your practical exercise

Create a message for a real, non-sensitive situation. Read it aloud and adjust a sentence so it sounds like your voice.

4.2

Summarizing with purpose

Determine in advance what the summary needs to support.

A summary for learning is different from a summary for decision-making. Indicate whether you need key concepts, actions, risks, or differences. Have ChatGPT refer to the provided material and do not fill in missing information.

Always check the original passage in contracts, policy, or figures.

Purpose of summary
Desired categories
No addition outside source
Back to original for important claims

How you can use this

Study: key concepts and practice questions. Work: decisions, owner, and date. Personal use: compare subscription terms.

Try this prompt

Summarize this text for [purpose]. Include: [categories]. Use only the text provided. For each important point, add the passage or section it is based on.

Your practical exercise

Summarize a short source in two ways: for learning and for making a decision. Compare which differences are appropriate.

4.3

Planning and tasks

Let ChatGPT show options and dependencies, but confirm time and priority yourself.

A plan is a proposal based on your input. Provide a deadline, available time, dependencies, and non-negotiable agreements. Request a minimal first step and a moment to review the plan.

ChatGPT does not automatically know how much energy, money, or authority you actually have.

Deadline
Available time
Dependencies
First step
Review moment

How you can use this

Personal use: plan a move. Study: plan exam week. Work: prepare for a meeting. Entrepreneurship: prepare initial market interviews for a business idea.

Try this prompt

Make a feasible plan for [goal]. Deadline: [date]. Available time: [time]. Constraints: [limits]. Show dependencies and give a minimal first step for today.

Your practical exercise

Make a plan for a week and then deliberately replace an assumption. Only adjust the affected tasks.

4.4

Learning and practicing

Use ChatGPT as an explanation and practice partner, not as your only learning source.

Give your current level, learning goal, and available time. Ask for explanations, an example, an exercise, and feedback. Do not show answers immediately if you want to actively recall from your memory.

Check course-specific definitions against your textbook or teacher. A convincing explanation may differ from the expected method.

Level
Learning goal
Active exercise
Feedback
Check against course source

How you can use this

Study: have five questions asked one at a time. Work: practise a conversation. Personal use: learn a digital skill through small tasks.

Try this prompt

Teach me [subject]. My level: [level]. Goal: [goal]. First explain briefly, then give an example, and then pose an exercise question without showing the answer.

Your practical exercise

Have three questions asked one at a time. Note not only your score, but also why an incorrect answer seemed appealing.

4.5

Comparing and deciding

Show criteria, uncertainty, and consequences instead of an unexplained winner.

ChatGPT can structure options, but your criteria and data determine the decision. Provide budget, goal, limits, and uncertainties. Ask for a comparison table and make missing information visible.

For important choices, ask for a reversible trial or a low-cost source of further information before making a final decision.

Criteria beforehand
Facts and assumptions
Make uncertainty visible
Low-cost test
A human decides

How you can use this

Personal use: compare subscriptions. Work: compare software options. Entrepreneurship: explore three ways to test a business idea through real conversations.

Try this prompt

Compare [options] on [criteria]. Separate facts, assumptions, and missing information. Do not give a winner if the data is insufficient. Then propose the cheapest next test.

Your practical exercise

Compare two small choices and intentionally add a missing criterion. Check whether the answer mentions the uncertainty.

4.6

From dream to initial research

An entrepreneurial dream starts with a problem and evidence, not with an automatic business plan.

Even if you are not yet an entrepreneur, you can use ChatGPT to explore a dream. Describe whose situation you want to improve, what problem you suspect, and what you do not yet know. Do not ask for confirmation that the idea is good. Ask for critical questions and small tests.

ChatGPT does not automatically know your market. Real conversations, observation, and data provide evidence. Use AI to prepare and structure research.

Problem first
No automatic confirmation
Critical questions
Small real test
Evidence outside AI

How you can use this

Someone dreams of opening a coffee shop. The first step is not a logo, but conversations about location, need, price, and what people do instead.

Try this prompt

I dream of [idea]. Possible target group: [group]. Assumed problem: [problem]. Give five critical uncertainties and for each uncertainty a cheap test outside ChatGPT.

Your practical exercise

Choose a dream or project idea and formulate three assumptions that you can investigate with real people or data.

Worked example

Investigating a business dream with real questions

Fictional practice material; incorrect answers have been created deliberately for this exercise.

A fictional entrepreneurship exercise. You are thinking about bicycle repairs at people’s homes. You do not yet know whether people need this.

Input

Plan an initial conversation to investigate how people solve bicycle problems. Give three neutral questions; do not present demand for my service as established yet.

First practice answer

Would you use our convenient repair service? How much would you pay? Is convenience important to you too? This deliberately imperfect example steers people towards agreement.

Check

The questions promote the solution and mainly ask about expectations. Follow-up instruction: first ask about a specific past experience, the solution chosen, and the hardest part.

Improved version

1. When did you last have a problem with your bicycle? 2. How did you solve it at the time? 3. What was the hardest part for you? These questions prepare the research; responses from real people still need to be collected.

Try it yourself

You are considering a shared vegetable garden. Write two questions about past experiences without asking whether people like your idea.

View the model answer

For example: “Have you grown vegetables before, and how did it go?” and “What made that easy or difficult?” People without experience can say so. A few conversations provide initial clues, not guaranteed demand.

Chapter assignment

Bring everything together

Choose a route — personal use, study, work, or entrepreneurship — and complete a small real task, checking it before use.

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