This is not a class. It is a conversation. I earned my doctorate at 82 using artificial intelligence as my daily research partner, and I want to sit with you — one to one — as you take your first steps. Watch the short session below, then try the three starter prompts. That is all you need to begin.
Session One · approximately 5 minutes · Dr. Pesach Walter
These are three simple ways to begin. Open ChatGPT (or any AI you have — Claude, Perplexity, Gemini — they all speak this language) and try one, or all three. There is no wrong way to do this. The point is to begin.
Not a research question. Something you have carried with you and never got around to asking. It can be about history, science, a person you knew of, a place you once visited, a word you never fully understood, or something the news never quite explained.
Why start here: AI is at its best when you write to it the way you would speak to a knowledgeable friend. This prompt teaches you the tone — plain, curious, and personal.
Give it a real task from your life. A letter you have been meaning to write. A form you have been putting off understanding. A doctor's report you want translated into plain English. A recipe you want scaled up for a family gathering.
Why this matters: this is the kind of moment AI changes your life. Not because it is impressive, but because it is useful — it removes friction from something that has been sitting on your kitchen counter for a week.
This is the one that will surprise you. Write a note to a grandchild, a child, a sibling, a friend — someone you have been meaning to reach and have not found the words. Tell the AI what you want to say and ask it to help you find your way in.
Why this exercise: AI does not replace your voice. It helps you find it. You will read what it drafts, you will keep the pieces that sound like you, and you will discard the rest. What you send will still be yours — only, perhaps, a little easier to arrive at.