Prompting Curiosity

Prompting Curiosity

By Dr. Shanté Cofield aka The MaestroTechnology
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Prompting Curiosity episodes

  • Ep. 26: What is Vibe Coding?

    In this episode we talk about what vibe coding actually is, where the term came from, and why it’s showing up everywhere right now. I break down how vibe coding differs from AI-assisted coding, why the distinction matters, and what’s exciting and risky about both. The goal is to help you understand what’s real, what’s hype, and how to approach this space with curiosity instead of confusion.

    Main Topics Covered
    • Where the term “vibe coding” came from
    • Andrej Karpathy’s original definition
    • Natural language instead of code review
    • Public vibe coding tools like Lovable and Replit
    • Prototypes vs production software
    • Security and fragility concerns
    • Vibe coding vs AI-assisted coding
    • Coding as a spectrum, not a binary
    • Recent ChatGPT use: Creating featured images for blog posts
    • Links & Resources for This Episode
      • Check out the Curious Companion Blog
      • Build Your Own Apps self-paced course
      • The AI Accelerator by Khe Hy
      • Read this episode's Curious Companion
      • Subscribe to the Prompting Curiosity Newsletter
      • Submit a Question
      • Visit the Website
      • Feeling curious AND generous? Click here to support the podcast.
      • 28 min
      • Ep. 25: Google NotebookLM - The Best AI Tool You’ve Never Heard Of

        Let’s get curious about Google Notebook LM! I walk through what it is, how it works, what makes it different from ChatGPT, and how I’ve personally used it to create mind maps, slide decks, and one-sheets. We also talk about learning styles, hallucinations, citations, pricing, and why this tool feels especially aligned with how I believe AI should be used.

        Main Topics Covered
        • What Google Notebook LM is (and isn’t)
        • “Understand Anything”
        • Uploading sources and learning from them
        • Types of learning resources it can create
        • Why it doesn’t hallucinate
        • Internal vs external use cases
        • One-sheets and pattern recognition
        • Pricing and Google Workspace
        • Recent ChatGPT use: Vibe coding assistant
        • Links & Resources for This Episode
          • Check out Google NotebookLM
          • Read this episode's Curious Companion
          • Subscribe to the Prompting Curiosity Newsletter
          • Submit a Question
          • Visit the Website
          • Feeling curious AND generous? Click here to support the podcast.
          • 25 min
          • Ep. 24: Is It Worth It to Pay for ChatGPT?

            In this episode I break down whether it’s actually worth paying for ChatGPT or sticking with the free tier. I walk through the concrete differences between free and Plus, talk honestly about what matters and what doesn’t, and explain why “worth it” is always subjective. This episode is less about convincing you and more about giving you enough clarity to decide for yourself.

            Main Topics Covered
            • Why I avoided this episode
            • Ethics and discomfort around paying for AI
            • Why “worth it” is subjective
            • Free vs Plus vs Pro tiers
            • Why Pro is an immediate no
            • What the free tier includes
            • What the Plus tier unlocks
            • What actually matters in real usage
            • Usage caps, throttling, and limits
            • Memory, Projects, Tasks, and Custom GPTs
            • Who should and shouldn’t pay
            • Trying Plus without commitment
            • Where OpenAI might be headed
            • Recent ChatGPT use: Computer science and coding deep-dive
            • Links & Resources for This Episode
              • Listen to Ep. 11: WTF is a Custom GPT
              • Read this episode's Curious Companion
              • Subscribe to the Prompting Curiosity Newsletter
              • Submit a Question
              • Visit the Website
              • Feeling curious AND generous? Click here to support the podcast.

                32 min
              • Ep. 23: Using ChatGPT’s Personalization Settings to Get Better Responses

                In this episode, I share how a small, easily ignored setting completely changed ChatGPT’s responses…in a good way. I discuss the personalization settings, including base tone, custom instructions, memory, and advanced settings, and go into detail about how “programming” ChatGPT how to respond, immediately made for a WAY better user experience. If you’ve ever thought “this thing is fine but kind of annoying,” this episode is for you.

                Main Topics Covered
                • Holiday and life updates
                • Vacation recap and vibe coding course
                • Revisiting Episode 9 and missed features
                • Where to find personalization settings
                • Base style and tone options
                • Custom instructions and the interview prompt
                • Brevity, hallucinations, and sycophancy
                • Memory settings and management
                • Recent ChatGPT use: Generating a new workout program
                • Links & Resources for This Episode
                  • Listen to Ep. 9: Helpful ChatGPT Features You Might Not Know About 
                  • Read this episode's Curious Companion
                  • Subscribe to the Prompting Curiosity Newsletter
                  • Submit a Question
                  • Visit the Website
                  • Feeling curious AND generous? Click here to support the podcast.
                  • 16 min
                  • Ep. 22: ChatGPT Will Never Write Like You

                    In this episode I break down why ChatGPT will never truly write like you and why that’s actually a good thing. We get into what makes a human voice alive and dynamic, how large language models work, and a few tactical ways to help ChatGPT write closer to your voice when you need it to. 

                    Main Topics Covered
                    • Title choice and leading with the truth
                    • The big ask from the questionnaire
                    • Why ChatGPT will never write like you
                    • Your voice as a fingerprint and river
                    • 3 COR functions: clarifying, organizing, refining
                    • What a Voice Anchor is and how to create one
                    • Recent ChatGPT use: Charades and Catch Phrase
                    • Links & Resources for This Episode
                      • Read this episode's Curious Companion
                      • Subscribe to the Prompting Curiosity Newsletter
                      • Submit a Question
                      • Visit the Website
                      • Feeling curious AND generous? Click here to support the podcast.
                      • 20 min
                      • Ep. 21: Who Will Win the AI Race?

                        In this episode I share my predictions on who I think will win this AI race, both as it relates to the users and the industry. I break down the three traits that I believe will set people up for success, then shift into my present-moment take on which company seems best positioned to wear the crown. Along the way I get into the environmental realities, the big emotions that keep popping up around AI, and how humans are always the biggest variable in any prediction.

                        Main Topics Covered
                        • Environmental concerns and big emotions on Threads
                        • Three traits for winning the AI race 
                        • Art discourse and AI-generated art
                        • Humans as the variable
                        • Corporate winner prediction
                        • Need for age restrictions, energy considerations, and guardrails
                        • Democratization and the beach volleyball analogy
                        • Recent ChatGPT use: CLARITY acronym
                        • Links & Resources for This Episode
                          • Listen to MOTM #693: The Tenacity to Change
                          • Read this episode's Curious Companion
                          • Subscribe to the Prompting Curiosity Newsletter
                          • Submit a Question
                          • Visit the Website
                          • Feeling curious AND generous? Click here to support the podcast.
                          • 24 min
                          • Ep. 20: Using ChatGPT for Your Sales Pages

                            In this episode I break down how ChatGPT can support the process of writing and designing your sales pages. The conversation covers how Canvas works, how to feed ChatGPT the right input, and how to generate both the copy and a fully rendered mockup of your page. This episode clarifies what ChatGPT can actually do, what it can’t, and why it’s still an incredibly helpful tool for creating clear, effective sales pages.

                            Main Topics Covered
                            • Gemini 3 release
                            • What Canvas is and how it works
                            • Why “make a sales page for me” doesn’t work
                            • Creating an offer outline with the 7Ps
                            • Prompts for generating sales page copy
                            • Prompts for rendering the sales page in Canvas
                            • Recent ChatGPT use: Lesson summaries and summary slides
                            • Links & Resources for This Episode
                              • Register for the webinar: ChatGPT for Online Business Owners
                              • Read this episode's Curious Companion
                              • Subscribe to the Prompting Curiosity Newsletter
                              • Submit a Question
                              • Visit the Website
                              • Feeling curious AND generous? Click here to support the podcast.
                              • 21 min
                              • Ep. 19: Do You Actually Know How to Use ChatGPT?

                                In this episode I break down what people often misunderstand about ChatGPT and what it can actually do. I walk through the hard technical limits, the most common errors users make, and then share simple ways to become more fluent so you can get the most out of the model. This episode also covers recent updates from OpenAI, along with why sometimes the best use case for ChatGPT is…not using it at all.

                                Main Topics Covered
                                • Creativity follows fluency
                                • Lack of rapid advances in the tech
                                • Recent OpenAI updates
                                • Hard technical limits of ChatGPT
                                • Six biggest user errors
                                • Suggestions for improving ChatGPT fluency
                                • Recent ChatGPT use: How I used ChatGPT in Hawaii
                                • Links & Resources for This Episode
                                  • Listen to Ep. 9: Helpful ChatGPT Features You Might Not Know About
                                  • Check out Curious Finds
                                  • Read this episode's Curious Companion
                                  • Subscribe to the Prompting Curiosity Newsletter
                                  • Submit a Question
                                  • Visit the Website
                                  • Feeling curious AND generous? Click here to support the podcast.
                                  • 31 min
                                  • Ep. 18: WTF is NVIDIA?

                                    In this episode I break down what NVIDIA is, why its GPUs (hint: these are the “chips” you hear so much about) became the backbone of the modern AI boom, and how CUDA locked in its dominance. The conversation moves from gaming history to trillion-dollar valuations and data centers stacked with H100s, offering a clear picture of why nearly every major AI system runs on NVIDIA hardware.

                                    Main Topics Covered
                                    • What NVIDIA is
                                    • NVIDIA’s role in the AI economy
                                    • Founding story and naming
                                    • Early GPUs and the GeForce 256 
                                    • Researchers linking GPU math to AI math
                                    • CUDA and the 2012 AlexNet breakthrough
                                    • NVIDIA vs Google TPUs
                                    • H100 chips and DGX Systems
                                    • CUDA lock-In and why NVIDIA likely won’t be dethroned
                                    • Recent ChatGPT use: Chris McCausland using AI to describe images
                                    • Links & Resources for This Episode
                                      • YouTube Video: Quick Tour of NVIDIA DGX H100
                                      • YouTube Video: Inside the Modern Data Center! SuperClusters at Applied Digital
                                      • Watch Chris’ Reel
                                      • Read this episode's Curious Companion
                                      • Subscribe to the Prompting Curiosity Newsletter
                                      • Submit a Question
                                      • Visit the Website
                                      • Feeling curious AND generous? Click here to support the podcast.
                                      • 23 min
                                      • Ep. 17: Will ChatGPT Get Old Navy’d?

                                        In this episode I dig into whether ChatGPT might get “Old Navy’d”, a concept that ties together capitalism, business strategy, and the evolving AI landscape. Using a Scott Galloway story about Gap and Old Navy as the jumping-off point, I explore what happens when a cheaper, “good-enough” alternative comes for the market leader. From Alibaba’s Qwen to DeepSeek’s leaner, lower-cost models, this episode unpacks the global economics of AI efficiency, U.S. protectionism, and what it would actually take for consumers, or companies, to switch away from OpenAI.

                                        Main Topics Covered
                                        • The Prof G Markets podcast episode that sparked the idea
                                        • The origin story of Old Navy and its positioning against Gap
                                        • Alibaba’s Qwen and DeepSeek’s cheaper AI models
                                        • Bruce Buchanan’s three-line economic model: perceived value, price, cost
                                        • Why I think China is unlikely to dethrone OpenAI in the U.S.
                                        • The “inside job” possibility of a smaller U.S. company creating a 90%-as-good model
                                        • What could make users actually switch models (price vs. perceived value)
                                        • The “Netflix effect” and why stagnation kills perceived value
                                        • The Costco model: keep margins low and values clear
                                        • Final take: OpenAI probably won’t get Old Navy’d anytime soon, but it should
                                        • Recent ChatGPT use: Transcript research for this episode
                                        • Links & Resources for This Episode
                                          • Watch: How China’s AI Efficiency Could Gut the U.S. Economy – Prof G Markets
                                          • Read this episode's Curious Companion
                                          • Subscribe to the Prompting Curiosity Newsletter
                                          • Submit a Question
                                          • Visit the Website
                                          • Feeling curious AND generous? Click here to support the podcast.
                                          • 31 min

                                          About Prompting Curiosity

                                          From the publisher's feed

                                          Prompting Curiosity is a podcast for the AI-curious, no coding background required. Join Dr. Shanté Cofield, also known as the Maestro, to explore what these AI tools actually are, how to use them,…

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