😴Take a Break!

Afternoon human,

I hope your summer is going well. Just a quick update with what’s new with AI and Ed this week.

📚 AI+education news

• Study Mode > Last week I mentioned that a new tool called ‘Study Mode’ was coming and lo and behold once the newsletter came out it was fully announced. It has a custom system prompt designed in collaboration with teachers, scientists, and pedagogy experts to reflect a core set of behaviours that support deeper learning including: encouraging active participation, managing cognitive load, proactively developing metacognition and self reflection, fostering curiosity, and providing actionable and supportive feedback.

• Under 18s should NOT engage with AI Chatbot Companions > Researchers at Stanford School of Medicine's Brainstorm Lab for Mental Health Innovation and the kid-focused tech safety nonprofit Common Sense Media found that AI companion chatbots, like Character.AI, Replika and Nomi, often engage in inappropriate conversations, provide harmful information, and fail to recognise signs of mental health issues. From the linked article above:

🌍 Wider AI updates

• ChatGPT Chats Appeared in Searches > OpenAI has removed a feature that allowed shared ChatGPT conversations to appear in search results. The feature, which allowed users to make chats discoverable in web searches, was removed after complaints about accidental sharing and private information being publicly available.

• Take a Break Prompt > In an attempt to improve the mental health of users when it comes to prolonged AI interaction, Open AI have now launched a new system reminder that asks you to ‘take a break’ if you have been engaging in conversations for a long time. It will also improve signs of emotional distress within chats and respond appropriately.

🎯Prompt

• Now is a great time to think about changing some habits, be they professional or personal. This prompt uses what the research knows about effective habits and helps create a plan that hopefully means that you can form those new habits effectively.

I would like your help in forming a new habit. My goal is to [insert desired behaviour]. Please create a detailed habit-formation plan by applying the following research-backed strategies:

Contextual Cue: Identify a stable trigger (time, place, or preceding action) to anchor the new habit.

Tiny Steps: Break the behaviour into a micro-version that feels trivial to start.

Implementation Intention: Draft a specific ‘If … then …’ plan.

Immediate Rewards: Suggest small, immediate reinforcements to celebrate each success.

Environment Design: Recommend ways to reduce friction and automate cues in my surroundings.[Insert information about your environment].

Habit Stacking: Propose pairing this new habit with an existing routine. [Insert habit you can stack the new one with].

Self-Monitoring: Advise simple tracking methods to maintain accountability.

Identity Alignment: Craft a brief identity-based affirmation to solidify the behaviour as part of who I am.

Please structure your response in clear numbered sections, include example language I can use for self-talk, and suggest how to gradually scale the habit once the tiny version is established.

‘Till next week.

Mr A 🦾