10 ways AI chatbots can help you with holiday tasks - and 30 sample prompts

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Happy Holidays! May your coffee be strong and your Wi-Fi signal stronger this season! But the holiday season isn't just about getting the best wireless signal and loading up on go juice; it's about family, friends, food, fun, and finances.

And, frankly, holidays can be a lot of work. There's a lot to organize, a ton of spending, careful relationship management that would give a UN ambassador pause, and plenty of planning.

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Today, we'll look at how we can get our friendly neighborhood AI chatbots to help. I've put together 30 helpful chatbot prompts organized into 10 categories. Feel free to use any of them, modify them, or add your own.

Because each of you is different, I've listed the parameters of the prompts (the stuff that changes from person to person) in square brackets. You can substitute what works for you as the contents of the square brackets. Also, you can paste the prompt as it is into an AI. Most AIs will interpret the square brackets as parameters and will prompt you back for details.

Keep in mind that AIs are fallible. They make stuff up, they fib, and they get things wrong. So, use AIs for help and inspiration, but rely on your own common sense when making decisions. Be sure to double-check anything important with another source or two.

And with that, let's get prompting!

1. Event hosting

If you want to organize a holiday event, AI chatbots can help. These prompts can help you brainstorm ideas for themes, decorations, games, and even invitations.

• Suggest five [theme category, like cozy winter] themes for a small holiday party.
• What are some fun icebreaker games for a [age group, say "mixed-age" if you want it to include a wide range of people] holiday gathering?
• Write a formal invitation for my annual [holiday] dinner party. Be sure to include the following details: [detail list].

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You can also have fun with these by asking ChatGPT and some other chatbots to create images. Keep in mind that AIs have a really hard time with text in images, so you might need to tell them to leave out any text, or limit the text to a few specific words.

2. Holiday planning and organization

AI chatbots can help you create personalized task lists and timelines. Having these to work from can not only keep you on track but also reduce your stress because you have a plan and can work from it.

• Create a holiday preparation checklist for a family of [size]. When planning the checklist, be sure to include [features and elements you want to consider].
• Help me organize a timeline for [holiday] dinner preparations. Be sure to include foods like [list] and avoid these foods: [list]. Also consider other aspects of preparation including: [things you want to include in your plans].
• Suggest ideas for a holiday party and provide a checklist of tasks to plan and execute on by [date]. Summarize what I need to do by number of days before [date] for each task.

3. Meal planning and recipes

Here's a more in-depth set of prompts to help you get the most out of an AI for meal prep. I've used ChatGPT a number of times to help me figure out what I can make with ingredients I have in the fridge and freezer. 

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You can expand on that for planning menus, getting recipes, and figuring out buying and cooking schedules.

• Plan a fun holiday menu for [count] people. Be sure to include [dietary needs like vegetarian]. Please take into account that [person] has a [food type] allergy and avoid any ingredients that could cause an allergic reaction.
• List five holiday desserts with the following characteristics: [list of characteristics].
• Create a timeline for the following entrées and sides so that they are all ready together: [list of entrées and sides].

4. Gift ideas and shopping

Gift giving can be a challenging task. While the AIs can't help you navigate the individual personalities of your intended recipients, they can give you a starting point or work with you to explore ideas.

• Suggest gift ideas for a [age] year old who likes [subject, like science and crafts]. Recommend categories, specific products, and search strings I can type into [online store] to search for gifts.
• What are some [category, like Secret Santa] gifts under $20 that are appropriate for fellow [worker category, like office workers]?
• Help me brainstorm ideas for holiday gifts I can make from dollar store supplies. When brainstorming, ask questions, give me replies, and guide me to various suggestions. Keep up the dialog until I say "thank you" or "done".

5. Holiday cards and letters

You can use the AI to write holiday cards and letters for family and friends. I have a friend who writes an annual summary of his family's year, which I always look forward to reading. While you'd have to feed a well-considered list of accomplishments and events to the AI, you could have the AI turn that into a holiday family newsletter or regular letter.

• Write a cheerful holiday message for a family [holiday] card.
• Help me write a holiday newsletter summarizing our family's year. Include the following events, accomplishments, and notable thoughts: [your list here]. Order the newsletter [chronologically, or by person, or by subject].
• I need to give cards to [count] coworkers. Write me [count] short holiday greetings I can put into those cards. Keep the tone of the greetings [warm or heartfelt or funny or cheerful or professional].

You can also use DALL-E 3 inside ChatGPT or some other image generator to create images for your cards and letters. Just keep in mind my previous warning that AIs tend to really botch up the use of words in images.

6. Holiday crafts and activities

Do you have the family home for a week or more? Do you have friends and relatives over and want to keep them occupied beyond just staring at the TV all day? How about getting together to make DIY projects, crafts, and decorations? The AIs can help.

• Provide me a list of [count] possible homemade ornaments I can create with [materials, like recycled, or a list]. Then, when I choose one or two that I like, provide me detailed instructions on how to complete the craft. Include links to websites or videos that provide in-depth tutorials if you can find them.
• Suggest holiday crafts for kids under [age] years old.
• What are [count] easy DIY decorations I can make in [time period] using [material list, or let the AI suggest materials] for a [theme type, like winter, or fireplace, or holiday name] theme?

7. Travel assistance

An AI can help you plan your trips, give you ideas about places to go and things to see, and help you plan your packing.

• Plan a [count]-day itinerary for a family of [describe family and ages] visiting [location] during the holiday season.
• What should I pack for a [duration] trip to a [characteristic of or location of] destination? Please note that I need to include [anything special you must pack]. Give me the list in checklist form.
• I find traveling with my kids to be stressful. Give me some ideas about how I can stay calm and have a good time amidst the inevitable chaos.

With ChatGPT Plus and some of the other AIs, you can feed them PDF documents to read. If you have reservations or confirmations for travel, you may be tempted to share those documents with the AI, but I would recommend against it. Don't upload personally identifying information or other personal details to the AI. You never know what it will do with it.

8. Budget management

Holidays are expensive. According to US News, "Americans spent roughly $10.8 billion online on Black Friday this year, up 10.2% from the previous year, then followed that up by spending $13.3 billion on Cyber Monday, 7.3% more compared to Cyber Monday in 2023."

So, it's more important than ever before to set a budget, manage your finances, and have cost-saving strategies in place.

• Create a holiday budget plan for gifts, meals, and [type of travel, local, distance, vehicle, etc] travel with a [currency amount] limit.
• Give me a set of affordable gift ideas for a family of [size]. Include ideas for [count] adults and [count] children aged [ages]. Favorite topics and interests include [list of topics or interests to gift].
• Suggest [count] money saving ideas for holiday decorations. Suggest [count] money saving ideas that can help me keep my holiday spending down, yet provide a good experience for my family.

9. Stress reduction

I don't know about you, but my holiday experiences have been insanely stressful. Yes, I cherish seeing family members, but there are so many dynamics between family members, not to mention the whole money issue and, now, politics, that the holiday period is one giant stress bomb for some of us. Let's find ways to make that more livable.

• What are some mindfulness techniques to stay calm during the holidays?
• Give me ten phrases I can use to politely change the subject when [family member] gets all heavy handed about politics?
• How can I simplify holiday preparations without losing the festive spirit? Suggest tasks I can delegate during holiday planning and how I can present them to my family members so they feel constructively included.

10. Post-holiday wind down

Congrats! You survived another holiday season. Now, it's time to clean up. Work with the AI for tips and plans for cleaning, organizing, and even reflecting back on your holiday season experiences.

• Suggest [count] ways I can store [type of] holiday decorations to save space?
• Draft [count] unique thank you messages I can use to acknowledge gifts received during the holidays
• Suggest a post-holiday reset routine, including tips for resetting my diet, budget, and home organization.

What are you planning?

So there you go. Those 30 prompts should get you started on your holiday preparations. I hope they will inspire you to create prompts of your own.

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What are your plans this holiday season? Are there any prompts you recommend other ZDNET readers try out? Are you looking forward to the holidays or to when the holidays are over? Is there anything specific you're really looking forward to? Any tips and suggestions for holiday ideas you want to share? Let us know in the comments below.

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