Every student knows by now that ChatGPT can be useful when writing a paper. But AI tools can make students' lives easier in many other ways too. AI student Spence van Asperdt lists five of them.

1. Never take notes during lectures or meetings again

‘Are you once again the unlucky one who has to take minutes during a meeting? Or are you sitting in a lecture hall without your classmates, but they still expect to copy your notes? Make things easier for yourself with OpenAI Whisper, a tool that transcribes audio for you. With ChatGPT, you can then quickly generate a summary. You can even use the transcript to create a to-do list from a meeting or turn lecture content into quiz questions.’

‘But be careful! Neither tool is perfect. Always double-check your summary! The smartest approach is still to attend lectures in person. Also, always ask for permission from the participants before recording conversations.’

2. Use a virtual kitchen assistant

‘Not a kitchen whiz, but still want to impress your housemates? Use ChatGPT as a virtual assistant in the kitchen. Say you’ve eaten out and had a delicious dish, ask ChatGPT to reverse-engineer it. Upload a photo or list the ingredients you know were in it, and voilà: ChatGPT will come up with a recipe that closely resembles it. Gluten-free or watching your calories? No problem! ChatGPT can adjust the recipe to suit your needs. Or ask for a budget version to keep your grocery bill low.’

‘There are of course no ethical objections to cooking tasty food, but be careful about the input you share with AI. Photos can contain metadata about where and when they were taken, for example.’

3. Get fit with ChatGPT

‘Training for a marathon? Or want to lose a few kilos? Creating a workout plan with ChatGPT is pretty straightforward. Explain your goal and, with a few extra details, you’ll get a personalised schedule. You can easily adjust it as you progress. If it’s too intense, ask for lighter exercises—or vice versa. Curious how a machine at the gym works? Take a photo and get an explanation. Oh, and while you’re at it, you can also ask ChatGPT to tailor your meals to match your fitness plan.’

‘A bit of human interaction and attention is also nice, but for that, you really need to go to a personal trainer’

‘Keep in mind that AI doesn’t account for mental health aspects, and it’s not a reliable advisor if you’re dealing with injuries. So don’t blindly trust AI when it comes to training. A bit of human interaction and attention is always valuable. For that, you really need a personal trainer.’

4. Save time and automate ‘boring’ tasks

‘Are you someone who spends hours fiddling with programs like Excel to make a table or graph? There’s an easier way using Google Colab, a program where you can run code and generate graphs automatically.’

‘How does it work? Input your research data into ChatGPT and ask it to generate code for the type of graph you want in Google Colab. Paste the code into Colab and you’ll get a fully customisable graph with titles, legends, and colours. You can automate other tasks too, such as creating heatmaps, calculating standard deviations, or cleaning up your data.’

‘Make sure you understand what the code does. Submitting AI-generated code without understanding it is considered plagiarism and violates scientific integrity. Also, don’t upload confidential research data without proper care.’

5. Make even better friends with AI’s help

‘It might not be the first thing you’d expect, but ChatGPT can help analyse your digital conversations and give you feedback. This can be useful—like if you’re unsure whether your message had the right tone, or if you’re trying to bring up a difficult topic and want help wording it better. AI can recognise tone and emotion in messages, analyse emoji use, who usually initiates the conversation, and how quickly people respond. Even broader patterns, like ghosting or manipulative behaviour, can become visible.’

‘But keep in mind: if you share your WhatsApp history, you’re not only sharing information about yourself but also about the other person. The real question is whether they would be okay with that, after all, chats are private.’