AI as Jetpack: Using ChatGPT and Claude to Build Tools and Automations

This toolkit session will focus on ways to use ChatGPT and Claude to build more advanced technical tools — Google Sheets automations, calculators, games, interactive simulations, and custom working software. The session is meant to lean into what Ethan Mollick has called his “Impossible Assignment” — use AI to do something that is currently impossible for you, and discover where the systems succeed and where they fail. You need not know much about code or automation to participate (the whole point is that you might not know much in these domains) — but having a paid subscription to Claude.ai, a Google Workspace account, a paid Gemini for Workspace account, or a paid ChatGPT Plus account would be useful. (You’ll be able to participate and learn even if you don’t have access to these tools for your own personal use.) By trying “impossible” things with AI, you’ll gain confidence in testing the limits of these systems, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of their capabilities, and you’ll come up with novel ideas for collaborating with other people — students, colleagues, parents — on AI projects.