🤔 What does that word actually mean?

Last week I asked what these Thursday emails should cover next. Of those who answered, everyone picked the same thing: keep it simple, with everyday, basic prompts. Nobody asked for more advanced things, and nobody asked for less ChatGPT. So that's what Thursdays will be for now. Plain, useful, one thing at a time.

Here's a good place to start. Most of us have nodded along at a word we didn't quite catch. The doctor says it, or the news, or a grandchild, and the moment to ask slips by. You mean to look it up later. Later doesn't come.

By the end of this you'll:

We skip the question for ordinary reasons. The doctor's busy. The grandkids are halfway out the door. And asking a person can feel like admitting you're behind.

So the word sticks around. It turns up again in the next letter or the next news story, and every time there's that small feeling of not quite following. It isn't a big thing. It's a small thing that keeps happening.

Asking ChatGPT doesn't feel like that. It doesn't sigh or check its watch. You can ask the same thing three times, and it answers the third as patiently as the first.

That's the part I'd like you to take away today. Not that it's clever. That it's patient.

Mayo Clinic says AI tools are best suited to explaining medical terms, and gives a simple example: "What does hypertension mean in plain language?"

That's the sweet spot. Words and ideas. What something means, how it works, why people say it.

Where it stops is anything about you in particular. A doctor at Harvard Health puts it plainly: "Explain diabetes" is a fine question. "Should I take this medication?" is not. That one belongs with someone who knows you.

And remember it can sound just as sure when it's wrong. Use it to understand. Check anything you're going to act on with your doctor or pharmacist.

Here's the whole thing:

If the answer's still too thick, type "Simpler, please." It won't mind.

If you like, once it makes sense, there's one more line worth knowing: "What questions could I ask my doctor about this?" Mayo Clinic and AARP both suggest using AI this way, to get ready for an appointment rather than to replace one. You walk in with the word understood and two good questions on a scrap of paper.

One rule: ask about the word, not about yourself. Leave out your name, your numbers and your test results. You don't need them to learn what a word means.

If you try it once, you'll have somewhere to take every word you've nodded along to. Next time at the doctor's, you might walk in already knowing what a word means. And the more words you clear up, the less often that not-quite-following feeling shows up.

If you don't, nothing changes. You'll keep nodding along now and then, the way most of us do.

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If you'd like, hit reply with just the word you tried. One word is plenty. I'm curious which ones we've all been nodding along to, and there's no wrong answer.

Talk soon,
Bob

A short story from my place, about the dog who gets me out the door every morning at 78 – no sales in it.

One more thing. When I asked what would help most, some of you said knowing which idea fits you. So I'm building a free tool for exactly that. It's called “What Fits Me”, and it's nearly ready. Nothing to buy. I'll tell you more soon.