The (AI) Dr. will see you now

More and more we are using AI to ask health-related questions - whether it’s to help us understand a medical report, investigate symptoms, or understand the nuances of our health insurance policies.

Capitalizing on this, OpenAI just announced ChatGPT Health: a dedicated space in ChatGPT that (theoretically) allows you to securely bring all your health information across portals, apps, wearables, etc. together and combine it with AI for a fully personalized health and wellness experience. (It’s currently on waitlist so I can’t verify the full extent of integrations).

I’m cautiously, but very, intrigued by this direction given how valuable it could be if it’s truly safe, endorsed by the medical experts, and private. etc.

• 24/7 access for all those middle-of-the night emergencies

• Holistic and proactive personalization - bringing together your data from all the medical and wellness silos feels like it could be a huge unlock.

• Democratizes healthcare for lower-income families (especially relevant given our current health insurance fiasco)

• Open question: not sure how well it will work for families vs individuals. Will it be smart enough to compartmentalize data by family member?

Job Creation? Somewhat of an aside, but a small paragraph in OpenAI’s healthcare report caught my eye because it highlighted expanded and new roles in the healthcare profession that will be created because of AI (e.g. clinical trial coordinators, community-based research staff, lab automation technicians, biomanufacturing specialists, biosafety professionals, etc.). Worth putting in the back pocket.

Lego-volution!

This week in Las Vegas there is a huge convention called the “Consumer Electronics Show” where all the latest innovations in consumer devices are on full display. As you might imagine, this year there is a lot of weird and wacky stuff, but the product that got me most excited comes from LEGO.

For the first time in decades they are announcing a major innovation called “Smart Play.” aka LEGO bricks now have “brains!”

How they work:

• New "Smart Bricks" look identical to the originals but are built with sensors, lights, and sound inside.

• Smart Tags tell the bricks how to behave (e.g. a helicopter set that triggers propeller sounds and flashing lights the moment your kid picks it up to "fly."

• The first sets (Star Wars) are already available for pre-order and ship in March.

My take: my boys love LEGOs so I’m obviously intrigued (and love that it’s screen-free play). For all us parents, I feel like tech that enhances analog toys instead of replacing them is a promising direction - making the 'old school' way of play feel new and magical. 🪄

Let’s be friends

Friendship is vital for our health (and for healing our communities), yet it feels harder as we get older, busier, and more guarded. The good news is that social confidence is a muscle, not a personality trait. By practicing small, science-backed moves we can grow our own friendships while teaching our kids to do the same:

• Practice micro-connection: friendships are built in tiny "bids" - asking one more question or giving a stranger a genuine compliment. These low-stakes habits turn acquaintances into friends.

• Mind the "Liking Gap”: research shows we consistently underestimate how much others enjoy talking to us. Assume people like you; it lowers your anxiety and makes you warmer.

• Set up a recurring “hang:” research shows that close friendship development requires recurring leisure time together. A weekly “hang” may sound daunting but it doesn’t need to be! A simple open invitation for a casual (read: no prep) Thursday play date/happy hour can be - I kid you not - life changing. Here is an awesome (and fun!) way to learn more and try it out.

Supporting our kids: 

Social success for children relies heavily on impulse regulation. Here are a couple little things to try:

• Play games that practice "stopping and starting" like Red Light, Green Light or Freeze Dance. These games strengthen the self-regulation muscle they need to wait their turn or manage frustration during play.

• Try a 2-minute pre-game huddle: proactive coaching is more effective than reactive correction. Two minutes before a playdate, ask: "What will you do if you both want the same toy?" Visualization hard-wires a rational response.

• Give conflicts a chance to work themselves out. If a minor tiff breaks out, wait an extra 30 seconds before jumping in. Minor conflicts, especially between friends, are natural learning opportunities that teach children how to negotiate and compromise.

If you can dream it, you can vibe it

Perhaps one of the biggest breakthroughs with AI as it relates to those of us who are non-technical is it’s ability to code for us based on our natural language prompts (aka “vibe coding”).

It’s a HUGE unlock for anyone who wants to start a business, build an idea they have in their head, or solve something that annoys them on a daily basis. Creating micro-apps and fully functional websites are now pretty much as easy as saying what you want.

For example, over the past couple of months I’ve vibe coded a thank-you note generator, an activity scheduler, a website for my workshops, an interactive advent calendar, a family recipe app, and so much more. Rather than force-fit apps and solutions to fit the needs of your family, you can simply build what you need.

Give vibe coding a try by building a “Boredom Busting” app.

Try this prompt or a variation of it in Gemini (in “Thinking” mode) with “Canvas” activated (an option in the tools toggle).

and, voila! A fully functional interactive app in 30 seconds (screenshots below).

Pro tip: there are a bunch of vibe coding startups that you can try out (Replit is my favorite, also Lovable) and many of these will offer you free credits to try them out. But Gemini and Claude also do a great job.

Infographics unlock

Multi-modal AI (AI that can understand and generate information across different types of media) is getting better and better. As a particular example, Gemini’s ability to create detailed, creative, and accurate infographics from a simple text prompt is remarkable.

Example:

I finally hit my breaking point fighting the boys on screen time and wanted to clarify our rules in a way that they could easily grasp with no gray area. I gave Gemini a blabbering list of our screen time rules selected “Create images” and asked it to “create a fun printable infographic that communicates all of the rules in a clear and simple way for my 3 boys that leaves no room for debate.”

I was happily surprised by the fun and accurate infographic output on first-go, but it is also easy enough to tweak little things by simply asking for them: “change the last section to XXX” or “make it k-pop style” without starting over.

The AI sleep doctor is here

At first blush, this sounds pretty powerful, simple, and incredible. Stanford researchers just published SleepFM, a new AI foundation model that can predict over 130 health conditions like dementia, heart attacks, and Parkinson's from a single overnight sleep recording.

But hmmm…. do I really want to know?! 😳 

A more affordable electrician

LOL.