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Jaimie Pattison's avatar

I’m seeing AI becoming increasingly helpful in chronic illness advocacy and daily management. In the absence of support it is being used carefully to produce (fact checked) education materials but also to assess test results in huge depth. All of this needs a human to ask the right questions, and filter through the answers, but it can be a genuine resource. I’m not sure what questions to ask but will be exploring it more, to see how it could free up energy to do the things that increase quality of life, something we all need more of.

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Danusia Malina-Derben's avatar

Jaimie, thanks for your vital contribution. What you’ve described, carefully fact-checked, human-guided use of AI in chronic illness support, is the kind of example we need more visibility around.

The part about not knowing what questions to ask is the gap, isn’t it? We need more shared prompts, more real use cases, more failed experiments too so that people don’t feel alone in the learning curve.

This is exactly why the PWT AI chat space exists. Looking forward to hearing what you discover as you go. I hope you’ll come share. 🙏🏻

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Jaimie Pattison's avatar

Thanks for inspiring me to explore it more Danusia. I have concerns about the environmental impact, and how so much has been stolen to train it without the writers and artists consent, but I spent a few hours getting to know ChatGPT after reading your post, and it is a powerful resource for research, and being able to ask such specific questions has the potential to offer so much to people with very individual needs.

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Danusia Malina-Derben's avatar

Thanks for this, Jaimie. I really hear you on the environmental concerns and the way so much was scraped without consent, it’s part of what makes the whole thing so fraught. But I’m really glad you gave it a go and explored a bit. The specificity really does make a difference, doesn’t it? It’s not about general answers is it because it’s about being able to shape something around your real needs. Would love to hear what you end up using it for as you keep experimenting.

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Jaimie Pattison's avatar

I’m working with it again today and have asked it to calculate the environmental impact of our chat/discussion so I can offset that. I also have set strict search boundaries and set it up so nothing is saved or used to teach it. It’s a really fascinating process and I can see so many more benefits that could help me manage my energy limits so we’ll see how it goes.

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Chloë Jones's avatar

Wow! Just asked ChatGPT to give me a list of pros or cons for a dilemma I have around my sons schooling. Who knew! So helpful 😆

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Danusia Malina-Derben's avatar

Isn’t that amazing! It can spark so many fresh perspectives and potential solutions and even if none suit it might trigger a path we’d not thought about alone.

Imagine how it could alter the load for single parents 😉 see where I’m going here?

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Chloë Jones's avatar

So amazing. As a single parent there is so much responsibility to make all the big (and small) decisions on your own. I miss having someone to chew over ideas with and often people on the 'outside' - friends/family - have such strong opinions but don't see the whole story as they aren't in it with you. This exercise with ChatGPT showed me it can be a great and dare I say objective, sounding board. It really helped me to clarify and expand my options.

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Danusia Malina-Derben's avatar

Solo decision fatigue and lack of Co parenting made me experiment with AI beyond business use. I was already into AI for productivity, time saving and strategic work when I clocked 18 months back that whoah it could be so much more for me. And if that is the case, for others too.

I’m also exploring subverting what others call misogynistic tendencies in AI. I don’t want decisions based on worldviews ill matched for my values and am finding it’s all possible.

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Chloë Jones's avatar

Very thought provoking peace although I wpukd have no idea where to even begin. Maybe just meal planning?!

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Danusia Malina-Derben's avatar

I’m thrilled you took it further than meal planning Chloe 🎉

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Melissa's avatar

How interesting. I hadn’t thought about using AI in that way. Thanks for sharing

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Danusia Malina-Derben's avatar

It’s why I’m opening this space up in this way. Most of us haven’t begun to consider the way it could support us. Thrilled you’re here Melissa x

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Catherine's avatar

I'm very wary of AI, but I hadn't thought it could help me with family life. Definitely worth thinking about, thanks!

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Danusia Malina-Derben's avatar

I totally get the wariness, same here, which is why I included that practical section on how to protect your data and set real boundaries with AI.

I’m not interested in using it to churn out content or replace real connection. But inside family life? Especially for mothers carrying the invisible load? It’s got serious potential. Not hype. Not shortcuts. Actual scaffolding. Glad it sparked something for you Catherine!

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