“I’m ready to hand over control of the world to our robot overlords,” I joked to my husband the other day. He laughed and shook his head, knowing my tendency to exaggerate.
While I didn’t quite mean that, I do find myself impressed and happy with the ways that artificial intelligence (AI) can make my work as a mom and educator a whole lot easier.
These AI life hacks caught me by surprise, since I’d seen much fearmongering online about the future of this technology. Yes, there are real and serious concerns; I don’t want to discount that. Yet I found little that touched on the many positive aspects.
Pope Francis encourages us to use technology in a way that “respects human dignity and promotes the well-being of individuals and communities” so that “it can contribute positively to the human vocation.”
If you would like some ideas of how to do that, here are three of my favorite ways to use it to alleviate the workload and mental load of motherhood.
One key warning: Always fact check content from AI, as it often makes up facts with no basis in reality. It’s great for brainstorming and gathering ideas, but not so great for factual accuracy!
1Meal planning
I don’t want to claim that AI meal planning changed my life, but it kind of did. It’s incredible to me that I can type in something like this:
Write a meal plan of healthy, seasonal comfort food for a family of six for one week. Include recipes and a shopping list.
And the AI immediately gives me a great response, saving me hours of work. I can even ask it to include certain ingredients in the meal plan if I have something I need to use up at home, or tailor the meal plan to dietary restrictions.
It’s just as helpful for meal trains. The other day I asked the AI, “Help me think of an easy to make and delicious dinner for a meal train for a family of 10.” I made exactly what it suggested and the family loved it!
2Planning kids’ activities
Whether organizing my kids’ book club, planning games for children attendees at a holiday party, preparing to teach Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, or teaching the kids about a virtue at my daughters’ Little Flowers club, I often find myself teaching groups of kids. When I’m low on ideas, AI is beyond useful.
These are a few things I’ve typed into the AI and had it give me incredibly helpful responses:
- Give me a list of trivia questions, discussion questions, and ideas for charades for a children’s book club on the Chronicles of Narnia. Organize these from easiest to hardest so I can tailor them to different kids’ ages.
- Give me some ideas for an engaging and interactive hands-on art lesson for a group of kids about Monet.
- Give me some ideas to keep a very active five-year-old engaged and focused in a Montessori-style class setting.
- Help me come up with several games and activities to entertain children at a Christmas party.
You get the idea. Every time, the AI gives me lots of very fun ideas I would not have thought of on my own. My kids said the AI-planned events were “the best ever.”
Don't become overly reliant on AI for generating ideas, however, as exercising your own creativity each day is as important as daily physical exercise!
3Discipline ideas
My kids kept getting out of bed after bedtime, so I asked the AI program what to do. It suggested a sticker chart with rewards for staying in bed. I followed the advice, resulting in a big improvement.
This example is one of countless ways you can use AI to help you parent more creatively. Some moms have it give them ideas of ways to respond to kids. One of my friends says she asks it to explain complex topics in a way a child can understand. Another friend asks it for ideas of natural consequences for a child’s behavior.
AI is super helpful for homeschool parents and educators especially. You might ask AI for journaling prompts for your child’s free writing time, ask for ways to bring to life a science or history lesson, and countless other things.
I hope these ideas help you as much as they have helped me! Using AI saves me so much time as a busy mom of four, and I hope it can do the same for you.
