One of the most treasured group meeting institutions in OPIG is snackage. Each week, one group member is asked to bring in treats for our sometimes lengthy 16:30 meeting. However, as would be the case for any group of 25 or so people, there are various dietary requirements and preferences that can make this snack-quisition a somewhat tricky process: from gluten allergies to a mild dislike of cucumber, they vary in importance, but nevertheless are all to be taken into account when the pre-meeting supermarket sweep is carried out.

So, the question on every researcher’s mind: can ChatGPT help me? Turns out, yes: I gave it a list of the group’s dietary requirements and preferences, and it gave me a handy little list of snacks I might be able to bring along…

When pushed further, it even provided me with an itemised list of the ingredients required. During this process it seemed to forget a couple of the allergies I’d mentioned earlier, but they were easy to spot; almost more worryingly, it suggested I get a beetroot and mint hummus (!) for the veggie platter:

I don’t know if I’ll actually be using many of these suggestions—judging by the chats I’ve had about the above list, I think bringing in a platter of veggies as the group meeting snack may get me physically removed from the premises—but ChatGPT has once again proven itself a handy tool for saving a few minutes of thinking!