Day-to-Day chores With ChatGPT
(2 Min Read) Making annoying chores palatable with ChatGPT
(Note) This post is part rant and part praise for ChatGPT. Specifically, how I am using it to unblock myself on day-to-day tasks that I get no joy from doing it but are important.
_ _ Rant _ _
Have you ever had to go to the city office to pull permits for work you want done on your home? If you haven't, it's like going to the DMV without an appointment. And if you have yet to experience that, it's like asking questions from a frog. It will say something, but you will only understand because it's completely rubbish.
In my case, I have to replace a house furnace, and I decided to pull the permits because I also want to redo some duct work for better airflow throughout the house. Improving airflow in the home can do great things for your home. HVACs fantastic/warm house more efficiently because of proper non-blocky airflow, using less fuel and saving you money. More importantly, there are not too hot or too cold areas in the house.
Anyway, it was naive of me to think that this would be easy. The City Office (Of Cupertino, and I am sure other cities have the same exception service) asked me to fill out a form CF1R-ALT-02-E, and people say engineers need to improve at naming projects, before even accepting a request to submit the permit.
I asked where do I find the form and how do I fill it. The response from the desk agent was to email the other agent.
So, I emailed to ask for instructions on how to fill out the form. The response was, "The correct form for plan review is the CF-1R form." Huh??
I returned to the office today for instructions on the right form, filling out the form and where to find it online, as it’s been a week and I haven’t found it. The response was, please find it online 🤦♂️
_ _ Praise _ _
Finally, I thought why not ask ChatGPT? After all, it has new Bing Browsing Capabilities. And voila, here are instructions 15 seconds later.
Even googling for one week did not land me in the right place and ChatGPT solved it a flash.
The point is that ChatGPT (w/Bing) saves unwarranted DISCOVERABILITY for me, which search engines were supposed to solve and aren’t.
Moreover, as ChatGPT was constructing the response, it could see the ZenDesk links it used to construct the instructions and share the details. We all know that customer service is the perfect use case for LLMs. If only they become ubiquitous.
ZenDesk I am looking at you. Please build it as part of your product and make website FAQs/Customer helpful support again. - Me, a frustrated customer
_ _ Takeaway _ _
I am going to be using ChatGPT to unblock myself from time-consuming chores that does not bring me any joy but are essential to be done. I see this new use-case as a way to complete my chores fast and in less painful and exhausting manner.