When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Heres how it works.
Finding the right tech gift is complicated.
It’s for my mother-in-law who does not own anApple Watch.
It has to be Android-compatible.
I want it to be incredibly easy to use and under $300."
I put it in once as a straight prompt to ChatGPT and then usingChatGPT search.
It turned out that both responses were accurate and more helpful than I anticipated.
For instance, theSamsungGalaxy Watch 6 is currently available at a discounted price."
It then citedThe Vergeas a source for that tidbit.
Miffed that it didn’t useTechRadarbut still impressed, I decided to change tacts.
I entered this new prompt:
“Are there any fitness wearables that also provide fall detection?
I don’t necessarily need a whole smartwatch.”
ChatGPT correctly noted that fitness trackers are fixated on activity and won’t all include fall detection.
Still, it did find a fewGarmindevices, including theGarmin Forerunner 45(sourced from Wikipedia[!
]), theGarmin Venu Sq 2(Verge), andthe Garmin Forerunner 245(Wikipedia again).
But ChatGPT wasn’t done.
But the thing is, ChatGPT missed a key level of detail that made its suggestion untenable.
We went back and forth like this without quite landing on the right gadget.
Separately, my wife and I looked at LifeAlert, a 24/7 service and wearable with a subscription fee.
It has no smartwatch capabilities and instead focuses on detecting falls and other emergencies and getting help.
It also never needs to be charged.
I hadn’t given up on ChatGPT.
A few days later, we picked up the conversation.
All of that for under $300."
Then I finally asked the big question: is LifeAlert a better option here?
Again, no context other than that prompt.
Oh, and did I mention that I accidentally called it “LifeLock”?
I feel like ChatGPT gets me.
It’s analytical but also almost caring.
I’m now considering asking ChatGPT to go shopping for me…as if.
