Tech-Neill-ogy #7 - 9 July 2023

Your Weekly Guide to Leveraging Technology in College Counseling

Author

Jeffrey Neill
July 10, 2023

Welcome to newsletter #7!

The rapidly-changing world of AI is a fascinating case study. Just last week, for example, I shared a hack for bypassing firewalls for reading articles (for educational purposes, of course), and already the loophole has been repaired and the hack no longer works! Such is the world of growing AI…

Producing this newsletter has been a rewarding experience. I am finding time to enjoy my downtime this summer. I promise! ;) Here’s a link to last week’s update. In any case, there’s a lot of fun and interesting resources to explore this week. I am always looking for feedback, if you have any!

Relatedly, if you come across any intriguing articles, tools, or resources related to technology and AI, or have any insights or ideas you’d like to share, please send them my way at [email protected]. Thank you!

UCAS, the UK’s shared admissions service for higher education, recently released a guide on using ChatGPT in the application process. Though not terribly thorough, it is helpful with providing students with guidance on how best to use ChatGPT and encouraging them, even, to use it responsibly. The link to the tool is below, but what are your thoughts? Do any of you work at schools where the use of ChatGPT is prohibited? I’m wondering how you will reconcile the challenge presented here by UCAS’ actively encouraging students to use it as a tool to help them improve their personal statements. It is an interesting conundrum!

A guide to using AI and ChatGPT with your personal statement

If you're not already using ChatGPT or other AI tools, you've probably heard about them. But should they be used to help with your UCAS personal statements? Is it cheating? Or can they be helpful in crafting your personal statement?

www.ucas.com/undergraduate/applying-university/writing-your-personal-statement/guide-using-ai-and-chatgpt-your-personal-statement

Intro to ChatGPT Course

A lot of folks have been curious as to how they might learn more about how to use ChatGPT. This is a really wonderful introductory course… and free! Take a look!

www.theneuron.ai/courses/intro-to-chatgpt

A ChatGPT Plugins Directory

For those more advanced users — or those just curious — ChatGPT Pro has the ability to use plugins, which are enhancements to what ChatGPT can do. For example, you can enable it to examine a particular URL. Lots of tools to explore here!

plugin.surf

For Architects & Interior Designers

Explore top AI tools that high school students can use to dive into architecture and interior design. From turning sketches into 3D models to redesigning rooms with a click, these tools offer hands-on experience, foster creativity, and help build a strong foundation for aspiring architects and inter

www.jeffreyneill.com/blog/2023/7/2/designing-tomorrow-the-ai-tools-that-are-turning-high-school-students-into-future-architects-amp-interior-designers

How to Cope With Anxiety About AI

Got AI-nxiety? Accept that AI is already here, prepare for new career prospects, go for a walk in the woods, and read up on regulation. This is a great piece for all of us!

gizmodo.com/ai-how-to-cope-with-anxiety-about-ai-1850586142

‎Possible on Apple Podcasts

Possible is a great podcast by Reid Hoffman of Netflix fame, Ethan Mollick, a professor from Penn leading the discussion on AI, and Aria Finger, who is Hoffman’s Chief of Staff. This particular episode is on “Prompt and Process” with ChatGPT.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/possible/id1677184070

ChatGPT Cheat Sheet

This cheat sheet lists out prompts and tips from all over the world on how to use ChatGPT effectively. I find it super helpful to scroll through to see ideas and use cases as well as effective prompting approaches.

quickref.me/chatgpt

Annual Data Project

Seth Allen from Pomona recently turned me onto his Annual Data Project. Learn more about it, and be sure to take a look at the AI-created and -narrated video of the post at the end!

http://www.jeffreyneill.com/blog/2023/7/3/the-annual-data-project-the-secret-sauce-of-college-counselors

Whimsical - AI Multi-tool

Whimsical combines whiteboards and docs in an all-in-one collaboration hub. This is an amazing tool, my newest obsession, for mind-mapping, creating flowcharts, ideating, and even producing slide decks. Definitely worth the time!

whimsical.com

Analogenie - Analogy Generator

Power up your writing with AI-generated analogies. This is a very cool tool for a college counselor looking for clever analogies to explain complicated topics. Give it a try!

analogenie.com

H20.ai

Why use a single AI chatbot when you can enter one prompt and see the results from up to six different AI tools? This is a very cool site that I have found to be very useful with ideating: when I say “give me 10 ideas for X,” it gives up to 60 (10x on each of 6 different AI engines). Take a look!

gpt.h2o.ai

Here’s a simple prompt with an interesting addition that makes a huge improvement in the prompt’s output. Take a look at the final two sentences in the prompt below. (And read a more thorough exploration of this prompting tool here!) 

Write a thank you note. To improve the result, ask me 5 clarifying questions before you perform the task. Ask the questions one at a time and wait for my response before asking the next question.

Take a few minutes and copy-and-paste this into ChatGPT to get some ideas! Give it a try! If you’d like to read more about this prompt, follow this link.

Thanks for reading and for your support. One question that I have fielded a few times is whether or not subscribers can share this with others. Please do! In fact, are you part of any networks? Please pass this along! The more, the merrier! (And there is a link below for new users to register themselves!)

I hope you are enjoying some down time this month!

Happy counseling,

Jeff