New to AI? Start here

You've heard a lot about AI and maybe tried it once. It wrote you a poem nobody asked for, and you closed the tab. Fair.

These five short lessons cover what you need before any of our guides: what these tools are, how to ask, what to keep private, and how to check the answer. After that, pick a task and go.

Lesson 1: What an AI chat tool is (and isn't)

An AI chat tool, like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Copilot, is a program you type to in plain English. It types back. That's the whole interface.

It's very good at drafting, summarizing, explaining, and brainstorming. It is not a search engine, a calculator you can fully trust, or a doctor. Think of a fast, eager intern who has read a lot and will confidently tell you your town has a beach. It does not.

Lesson 2: Pick a free tool

You don't need to pay for anything to use our guides. The free versions of ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini all work. Open one in your browser, make an account if it asks, and you'll see a box to type in.

Our guides are written to work in any of them, and we name more than one. So far we've tested our prompts in ChatGPT.

Lesson 3: How to ask for what you want

A prompt is the message you type to the AI. The more it knows, the better it does. A good prompt says who it's for, what you want, the details that matter, and what shape the answer should take ("a table," "under 200 words").

"Plan dinners" gets you something generic. "Plan 7 dinners for a family of five, $75 budget, one kid who won't eat mushrooms" gets you something you can use. If the first answer misses, say what's wrong in plain words and ask again. It won't be offended.

Lesson 4: What never to type into AI

Don't paste your Social Security number, passwords, bank or card numbers, insurance member IDs, or anything you'd mind a stranger reading. Health privacy laws like HIPAA generally cover your doctor and insurer, not a chatbot.

When a guide asks you to paste a document, remove names, addresses, and account numbers first. The AI doesn't need them to help.

Lesson 5: How to check the answer

AI makes things up, with total confidence. Check anything with a number, a date, a price, a name, an address, or opening hours. Use the official website, a maps app, or a calculator.

For anything about your health, money, or legal situation, treat the AI's answer as a starting point for questions, then ask a professional. Our guides point you to where to check.

Try your first guide

Each of these takes about 15 to 45 minutes, is written for any free AI tool, and tells you what to double-check.