Josh Benson AI

Do you know where your last name is from or what it means? 🤔

Most of us have written our last name thousands of times without ever knowing the story behind it.

I gave mine to ChatGPT, and within a few prompts I was tracing my family from Scandia, Minnesota, back toward Sweden, and finding an older version of the family name in historical records.

Try it with yours.

PROMPT 1

My last name is [LAST NAME]. Research where it came from, what it originally meant, what language it comes from, and what type of surname it is. Show me the earliest known spellings, where the name was historically concentrated, how it spread around the world, and any major alternate origins. Separate what is well documented from what is only a theory, and cite your sources.

PROMPT 2

Now help me trace my actual family line using public genealogy and historical records. Here is what I know: [ADD YOUR KNOWN FAMILY HISTORY]. Work backward one generation at a time and look specifically for immigration records, alternate spellings, shortened or Anglicized surnames, and the point where the name may have changed. For every connection, label it VERIFIED, LIKELY, or UNPROVEN and cite the record. Never assume two people are related just because their names match.

Fair warning: this can turn into a serious rabbit hole.

ChatGPT can help find the trail. The records are what prove it.



How to use AI to find my family tree
How can AI find my family history

I gave ChatGPT access to my Amazon order history and HOLY $%$&! 🙀

It immediately told me where the problem was, what we were buying FAR too often, and how to immediately save hundreds per month.

Here’s the prompt:

Review all my Amazon orders from 2026, categorize every purchase, total each category, and rank them from highest to lowest spending. Account for returns and refunds, identify recurring purchases and small orders that add up, and show me where I’m overspending or wasting money. Then give me the biggest opportunities to cut costs without significantly changing my lifestyle.

It’s evident we have a serious bottled water problem. 🫠

This is one of the easiest levers to pull if you need to start saving money today. Convenience can be expensive. Let me know how much you can save. 👊🏻



Can you connect Amazon to AI?
ChatGPT and Amazon connection

Google will literally train you in AI, and there’s a way to do it for free. 💸

I’m already an hour into the Google AI Professional Certificate and actually learning a few useful things.

But I also found a catch with the free Google AI Pro offer you should know about before signing up.

I’m finishing the whole course and I’ll report back. 🙌🏻



How can I become Google AI certified?
What is Google AI Professional Certificate?

Bring an old family photo back to life with ChatGPT.

If you have an old photo that’s scratched, faded, cracked, blurry or damaged, upload it to ChatGPT and try this prompt:

PROMPT :

Restore this old photograph. Repair scratches, cracks, fading, creases and damage, and recover as much real detail as possible. Colorize it naturally for the time period. Most importantly, keep every person’s face exactly as it appears in the original. Do not change their features, age, expression, pose or the composition. Do not invent people or objects that aren’t visible. Keep the result realistic, with natural skin texture and subtle film grain, and return it at the highest resolution possible.

Save this post, find the oldest photo in your family, and give it a try.



How can I restore an old photo?
How to restore an old photo with AI.

Are we going back to ChatGPT? 🤓

Here’s a simple way to use ChatGPT to get your kids off their devices and back into learning. 📱

With school starting soon, I asked to create a printable workbook based on my child’s age, grade level, and favorite theme.

It made a full dinosaur adventure with reading, math, science, social studies, and art activities - all designed for a child entering 1st grade.

Just change the age, grade, and theme to match your child.

Save this prompt and try it before school starts! 📚🚌✏️

Prompt:

Create a [NUMBER]-page printable and interactive PDF workbook for a [AGE]-year-old who completed [GRADE COMPLETED] and is entering [NEXT GRADE].

Theme the workbook around a connected [STORY TYPE OR CHARACTER] adventure, with each page continuing the story at a new location or challenge.

Keep every activity appropriate for reviewing [GRADE COMPLETED] skills and preparing for [NEXT GRADE]. Include simple practice in language arts, math, science, social studies, and art.

Use bright, child-friendly storybook illustrations on every page, large readable text, short directions, plenty of writing space, and fillable answer fields. Make the final workbook polished, fun, confidence-building, and easy to print.

Trying to find one specific photo on your computer shouldn’t feel like searching for a needle in a haystack.

I used Claude Code to look through the images in my folders, understand what was actually in each one, and rename them with what the image actually shows.

You can also use it to organize chaotic folders into related categories.

No more files named IMG_4821 or Screenshot_2938. Now you get names you can actually search…and find immediately.

Next up: using it to rename and organize 2TB of images across Dropbox, Google Drive, and my computer.

Wish me luck. 🫪

I don’t buy anything online until I do this first.

Before you check out, copy the product link, paste it into ChatGPT, and let AI search for every legitimate way to save money. Then have it test the available discount codes and tell you which one actually works.

It takes about a minute, and it has become part of my routine before almost every online purchase.

Prompt 1

Find me every working discount code, promo code or coupon for this exact product right now.

Prompt 2

Now use your browser to test these discount codes on the checkout page don’t complete the purchase just tell me which saved the most.

Follow .ai for practical AI tips you can actually use in under a minute.



How can I save money with ChatGPT?
How to use ChatGPT for discount codes.

When our refrigerator stopped making ice, I turned to AI before calling a technician. ChatGPT helped me troubleshoot the temperature, uncover a seriously clogged condenser 😮, rule out a few possibilities, and figure out when it was time to bring in a professional.

It didn’t magically fix the fridge, but it did help me think more clearly, stress less, and make a smarter service call. And who knew I had to clean behind my refrigerator?! 😵

I let ChatGPT do the talking on this post. After all the robots are taking over. 😬



Can AI fix a refrigerator?
How to fix a fridge with AI.

One word.

That’s all it takes to make AI explain even the most complicated topics in a way almost anyone can understand.

The next time ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini (or any AI) gives you an answer that’s full of jargon or goes over your head, don’t start over. Just add ELI10 to your prompt.

Whether you’re trying to understand investing, SEO, taxes, coding, or just about anything else, this is one of the simplest (and most useful) AI prompts you’ll ever use.

eli10

What is ELI10?
How does ELI10 work?
What’s one of the best one-word prompts for AI?