I asked ChatGPT to help me eat and travel more sustainably. Here's what happened
Living sustainably can be tough, especially when you don't even know where to start. That's why I decided to give ChatGPT, an AI tool with 100 million global users, a try. My aim was to make affordable, eco-friendly changes to my lifestyle, with a focus on transport and food waste reduction.
After submitting details about my common modes of transport and the food in my cupboards, I put ChatGPT to its first test – to weigh up different ways of getting from my flat to Edinburgh's city centre. It provided a long list of options but didn't give any definitive advice, leaving me somewhat underwhelmed.
Despite this, I persevered and later asked ChatGPT to create a meal based on ingredients that were about to go off. Although the initial recipe called for couscous, which I didn't have, ChatGPT quickly suggested alternatives based on what I already had in my cupboards. It made for a tasty meal, and I avoided contributing to the UK’s annual 9.5 million tonnes of food waste.
Overall, my ChatGPT experiment was hit-and-miss. While it serves its purpose for creating habit and lifestyle changes, it still takes the user's motivation to carry it through into everyday life. For instance, if food waste is an issue, there may be other underlying reasons for this habit.
However, ChatGPT can be helpful for generating ideas and tracking information. It's also constantly learning and improving. Although it's far from perfect, it can be useful for tasks requiring conscious thinking and intelligence.
So, while I won't be handing over all of my decision-making to ChatGPT, I'll certainly be using it to help plan meals and organise my pantry. Who knows – it might even provide the sort of organisational efficiency that's required in professional kitchens.
