Discovering the precise tech present is difficult. There are the desires of the present recipient, the provision of choices, comparisons of options and specifications, and your finances. As a tech professional, you would suppose I might have an more straightforward time, however my mind is most commonly crushed with tech trivia, and I battle to boil all of it down into an invaluable and well timed resolution. It is in those moments the place synthetic intelligence and a rising legion of generative, massive language type chatbots can do essentially the most excellent.
Put otherwise, I have been having a week-long dialog with ChatGPT 4o about what to get my partner’s mother, and whilst the AI has no longer completely solved my downside, it will get large issues for endurance, patience, and reminiscence.
My sharp-as-a-tack partner’s mother lives by myself, and whilst she’s secure on her ft, we do fear about her in an emergency state of affairs like a fall, which led my spouse and me to wonder whether a wearable with fall detection could be a excellent present.
As we talked, my spouse eyed me as though she had been looking ahead to one thing, and I spotted it used to be a concrete solution: “Which wearable must we get her?” Since Mother is an Android telephone person (her getting older handset is from LG, an organization that now not makes telephones), my first selection, an Apple Watch SE, used to be out of the query.
I have examined a couple of Android wearables, just like the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra and the most productive Google Pixel Watches, however I could not recall which of them had integrated fall detection. I used to be making ready to do the analysis however, daunted through the duty (learn “lazy”), determined to offer ChatGPT 4o an opportunity.
The advantage of the usage of an AI chatbot is that you’ll be able to ask difficult questions conversationally, and it’s going to nearly all the time be sensible sufficient to grasp and reply.
Right here used to be my preliminary recommended:
“I wish to discover a smartwatch or a health watch that has easy notifications, fall detection, and will ship an emergency alert. It is for my partner’s mother who does no longer personal an Apple Watch. It must be Android-compatible. I would like it to be extremely smooth to make use of and beneath $300.”
I put it in as soon as as a instantly recommended to ChatGPT after which the usage of ChatGPT search. Since I do know that the latter makes use of the are living internet to tell its effects, I believed the solution can be extra well timed and correct. It grew to become out that each responses had been correct and extra useful than I expected.
ChatGPT spoke back, “To your partner’s mother, an Android-compatible smartwatch that provides easy notifications, fall detection, and emergency alert functions beneath $300 can be splendid. Listed below are some suggestions:”
It then indexed the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6, Google Pixel Watch 2, and the Amazfit GTR 4. The 2 last-gen smartwatches had been canny possible choices as a result of new fashions just like the Pixel Watch 3 and Galaxy Watch 7 can be dearer and almost certainly ruin my $300 prohibit.
Then, like a conspiratorial good friend, ChatGPT whispered, “Given the continued Black Friday deals, you may to find those watches at even decrease costs. As an example, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 is these days to be had at a reduced worth.” It then cited The Verge as a supply for that tidbit. Miffed that it did not use TechRadar however nonetheless inspired, I determined to modify tacts.
Narrowing our possible choices
Up to I like smartwatch era, I nervous that those wearables may nonetheless be just a little too difficult – a minimum of relating to setup – for my partner’s mother. In those conversations with ChatGPT, I love to regard it as I might a pal who all the time is aware of what I am speaking about and will pick out up the context even though I did not restate the entire premise. I entered this new recommended:
“Are there any health wearables that still supply fall detection? I do not essentially want a complete smartwatch.”
ChatGPT accurately famous that health trackers are fixated on task and would possibly not all come with fall detection. Nonetheless, it did to find a couple of Garmin units, together with the Garmin Forerunner 45 (sourced from Wikipedia[!]), the Garmin Venu Sq 2 (Verge), and the Garmin Forerunner 245 (Wikipedia once more).
ChatGPT identified the stability of health monitoring and security measures like “incident detection” which it famous “might be really helpful to my partner’s mother”. However ChatGPT wasn’t achieved. In contrast to my pals who may cling off giving a advice, ChatGPT boldly declared, “Making an allowance for your partner’s mother’s wishes, the Garmin Venu Sq 2 stands proud for its user-friendly interface and complete options inside your finances.”
However the factor is, ChatGPT neglected a key stage of element that made its advice untenable. “Incident detection” on those Garmin watches specializes in mishaps all the way through task, no longer the type of random fall that may occur to the aged at any time.
Undaunted, I requested ChatGPT to concentrate on a extra female design (some health wearables can also be rather cumbersome and masculine) and the most simple UI. ChatGPT had now fixated at the Garmin Venu Sq 2 and indexed all of the tactics it used to be highest, although it stated that incident detection and help options “are generally lively all the way through particular actions and require the watch to be attached to a smartphone.”
We went from side to side like this with out rather touchdown at the proper tool. One after the other, my spouse and I checked out LifeAlert, a 24/7 provider and wearable with a subscription charge. It has no smartwatch functions and as an alternative specializes in detecting falls and different emergencies and getting lend a hand. It additionally by no means must be charged.
I hadn’t given up on ChatGPT. A couple of days later, we picked up the dialog. I introduced no context however persevered within the recommended thread, “So, I would like actual, 24/7 fall detection, lengthy battery lifestyles, ease of use, Android compatibility, and one thing a girl would put on. All of that for only $300.”
ChatGPT admitted that discovering what I used to be searching for may just “be difficult,” nevertheless it additionally really useful the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6. It used to be one in all its preliminary favorites, claiming it had higher ease of use due to the rotating bezel (I will be able to more or less agree {that a} {hardware} keep an eye on works effectively for any individual unfamiliar with wearable era), and pointed to Bixby and Google Assistant as improving usability. I feel the lifestyles of 2 virtual assistants on one tool could be complicated, however perhaps that is simply me. It additionally highlighted the $250 price ticket and a top stage of Android compatibility (I nonetheless do not know if my partner’s mother’s getting older LG has an OS up-to-date sufficient to give a boost to those more recent smartwatches).
Then I after all requested the massive query: is LifeAlert a better choice right here? Once more, no context as opposed to that recommended. Oh, and did I point out that I unintentionally known as it “LifeLock”? ChatGPT, like the great good friend it’s, forgave my foibles and translated my nonsense into an in depth comparability of emergency alert techniques like LifeAlert as opposed to smartwatches.
It then summarized with this:
“In case your partner’s mother values a tool with a couple of functionalities and is happy with era, a smartwatch just like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 might be really helpful. Then again, if she prefers a devoted, easy-to-use emergency machine with skilled tracking, a clinical alert machine comparable to Existence Alert could also be extra suitable.”
You spot? I believe like ChatGPT will get me. It is analytical but in addition nearly worrying. Granted, I am no nearer to a answer in this acquire than I used to be every week in the past, however a minimum of I believe higher knowledgeable. I am now taking into consideration asking ChatGPT to window shop for me…as though.
