Prompting Curiosity – Details, episodes & analysis

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Prompting Curiosity

Dr. Shanté Cofield aka The Maestro

Technology

Frequency: 1 episode/7d. Total Eps: 35

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, and what they might mean for how we think, work, create, and move through life. Tune in every Thursday to get your fix. Stay curious.

Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

🇨🇦 Canada - technology
18/03/2026
#91
🇨🇦 Canada - technology
17/03/2026
#65
🇨🇦 Canada - technology
07/09/2025
#99

Spotify

No recent rankings available

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

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https://chatgptcurious.com/newsletter/
35 shares
https://chatgptcurious.com/
34 shares
https://chatgpt-curious-1.kit.com/products/the-curiosity-cup
34 shares

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Uu_VJeVVfo
1 share

RSS feed quality and score

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RSS feed quality

Good

Score global : 73%

Publication history

Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.

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Latest published episodes

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Ep. 7: What is AI?

Episode 7

Thursday, September 4, 2025 • Duration 31:41

This episode is about giving you a clear, simple definition of a word that gets thrown around constantly: AI. You’re hearing it in every commercial, on every app, and in every new feature rollout. But what is it, really? I share a plain-language definition — “software that can guess” — contrast everyday examples of AI with simple automation, and give quick context on where the term came from, how regulating agencies define it, what is meant by “agents” and “AGI”, and how close we realistically are to what Terminator predicted. (Spoiler, not close at all.)

Main Topics Covered

Creating informed consumers
“AI is…” exercise
A colloquial, plain-language definition for AI
Things That Are AI vs Things That Are NOT AI
AI as a kitchen sink marketing term
AI origin story: John McCarthy + the Dartmouth proposal
Official definitions from OECD and NIST
Understanding autonomy and “AI agents”
The forecast on AGI: artificial general intelligence
How I used ChatGPT this week: bulkhead light and bulb hunt

Links & Resources for This Episode

Chapters

(00:00:00) - ChatGPT Curious
(00:00:38) - What Is AI?
(00:03:57) - What is the Definition of AI?
(00:06:58) - A Taste of AI in 2017
(00:11:54) - Not AI: What Is It?
(00:16:53) - AI Agents and the Oxford Dictionary
(00:23:47) - AI Is Math, Not Scary
(00:27:49) - Putting a new light bulb in my yard on Chat GPT
(00:30:26) - Curious About ChatGPT

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Ep. 6: An Intro to Using ChatGPT for Content Creation

Episode 6

Thursday, August 28, 2025 • Duration 23:53

In this episode I give an introduction to using ChatGPT for content creation with a focus on practical strategies for repurposing your own work. You’ll hear about reverse prompting, using Projects to save instructions, and how to keep your taste and voice at the center of what you create.

Main Topics Covered

Recent ChatGPT outages and possible reasons
Experimenting with Gemini and Google’s AI summary tool
Viewing everything as content
When using ChatGPT for content creation makes sense
Suggested steps for creating content
Picking a format, repurposing content, and reverse prompting
Utilizing the ‘Projects’ feature
Recent ChatGPT use: German translator

Links & Resources for This Episode

Listen to ep. 1: What You Actually Need to Know About ChatGPT
Subscribe to the ChatGPT Curious Newsletter: The Curious Companion
Submit a Question
Visit the Website
Feeling curious AND generous? Click here to support the podcast.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - ChatGPT Curious
(00:00:38) - ChatGPT: Introduction to Content Creation
(00:02:08) - ChatGPT Outage: Are You a Free User or a
(00:05:05) - ChatGPT Outage: How It Will Disrupt Search
(00:08:30) - Using ChatGPT for Content Creation
(00:11:07) - How to Use ChatGPT to Create Social Media Content
(00:14:33) - How to create social media content in 3 Steps
(00:17:13) - Introduction to Projects in ChatGPT

Ep. 5: Can You Trust ChatGPT?

Episode 5

Thursday, August 21, 2025 • Duration 20:59

In this episode, I dig into whether you can trust ChatGPT, and what that question reveals about trust in general. From model changes and user backlash to the three pillars of trust (benevolence, integrity, competency), I share why double-checking is anon-negotiable and how personal responsibility plays into using AI. We talk about media incentives, misinformation, and why “important” is a slippery, subjective word when it comes to verifying the answers that ChatGPT gives you.

Main Topics Covered

User reactions and model changes after GPT-5 rollout
ChatGPT as an assistant for known answers
What “hallucination” actually mean
The importance of verifying information
Trust and misinformation online
Social media’s role in shaping belief
Media incentives for clicks over accuracy
The foundations and four components of expertise
The three components of trust
Applying the trust framework to ChatGPT
Where personal responsibility fits in
Recent ChatGPT use: Suggestion mode and sentence checks

Links & Resources for This Episode

Subscribe to the ChatGPT Curious Newsletter: The Curious Companion
Submit a Question
Visit the Website
Feeling curious AND generous? Click here to support the podcast.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - ChatGPT Curious
(00:00:38) - Chat GPT: Can You Trust GPT 5?
(00:04:26) - Can You Trust ChatGPT?
(00:10:27) - Can I Trust ChatGPT?
(00:11:54) - Can We Trust? The Components of Expertise
(00:14:12) - Three Components to Building Trust
(00:18:27) - How to Use a Suggestion in Chat Gbt

Ep. 4: Overhyped or Underestimated: Is ChatGPT Coming for Your Job?

Episode 4

Thursday, August 14, 2025 • Duration 26:22

So… is ChatGPT actually coming for your job? In this episode, I walk you through the GPT-5 release, what’s new, what’s noise, and why I think most folks won’t even notice a difference. We’ll talk about how AI is being used at work, why the headlines can be misleading, where the tech still falls short, and why job-loss predictions are far from straightforward.

Main Topics Covered

Key GPT-5 updates for users
OpenAI’s “phD-level intelligence” claim
New email and calendar integration
Benchmark testing and hallucination improvements
AI hype vs. real job impact
Media narratives around AI job loss
Microsoft study on AI and job tasks
Defining “agents”, “agentic”, an “AGI”
Summary of ChatGPT’s potential and limits
Advice for AI-proofing your job
How I used ChatGPT to create the podcast intro music

Links & Resources for This Episode

Chapters

Ep. 1: What You Actually Need to Know About ChatGPT

Episode 1

Thursday, August 7, 2025 • Duration 40:29

In this episode of ChatGPT Curious, I lay the groundwork for understanding what ChatGPT actually is, without getting too lost in the weeds. I break down key terms like LLM and parameters, explain how the model was trained (hint: lots of math), why it sometimes spits out wrong info, and what all of this means for how you use it. I also touch on the environmental cost, what the free vs. paid versions can actually do, and how to think critically about its outputs. If you've ever felt a little confused, a little curious, or both, this one's for you.

Main Topics Covered

Why it’s worth understanding the foundation of ChatGPT
What is ChatGPT?
Brief history of OpenAI and the development of GPT
What GPT actually stands for and what changed with each version
What “parameters” are and how they shape the model’s responses
How language is turned into numbers via tokens
What happens during training
Human involvement in model training via RLHF (reinforcement learning with human feedback)
Probabilistic vs deterministic systems and what that means for output accuracy
The environmental cost of “compute” and an analogy for mindful use
What the free version can do (and can’t), including search, uploads, and voice
What the paid version offers
What ChatGPT is not
What to watch out for
Real-life use case: Trying to fix a bike derailleur using ChatGPT

Links & Resources for This Episode

Chapters

Ep. 2: ChatGPT and the Environment: Energy, Water, and Carbon Emissions

Episode 2

Thursday, August 7, 2025 • Duration 58:25

In this episode I dig into the environmental impact of using ChatGPT: energy use, water consumption, and carbon emissions. I walk through the research, acknowledge the risk of whataboutism, and explain why comparisons to other systems matter when we're talking about true impact. Adopting a both/and approach, this episode is absolutely not about letting ChatGPT off the hook, it’s about putting things in perspective so we can take action on what will actually move the needle.

Main Topics Covered

Why this is episode 2 and why the topic matters
Ramit Sethi’s $30K vs $3-question analogy
The math behind ChatGPT’s energy use
The origin (and problems) with the “3Wh per query” stat
What .3Wh per query actually looks like in real-world use
The difference between inference and training impact
How ChatGPT kicked off the AI arms race
Where most AI energy actually goes (spoiler, it's not ChatGPT)
The hidden energy behind everything else we use
How water usage is measured across three scopes
ChatGPT’s water use vs typical U.S. electricity and food systems
Why carbon emissions highlight the need for more transparency
The repeating citations problem in media coverage
What actually makes the biggest environmental difference
Concerns about future energy use from agentic models
Why transparency from companies matters
This episode as a call for participatory awareness, not panic

Links & Resources For This Episode

Chapters

Ep. 3: Is ChatGPT Killing Creativity?

Episode 3

Thursday, August 7, 2025 • Duration 17:16

In this episode I answer the question “Is ChatGPT killing creativity?” with a resounding no, and then unpack why I think that question even exists in the first place. I talk about what people are really reacting to, how our systems reward speed over depth, and why I see ChatGPT not as the problem, but as a mirror. We also take a detour into college, capitalism, and Cabo.

Main Topics Covered

Why ChatGPT isn’t killing creativity
What “bullish” means and why I’m actually excited about
The Great AI Reckoning: asking what really matters
Covid as the spark for questioning value systems
People using AI for things they don’t care about
Rejecting the idea of laziness
Systemic rewards for speed and flash over depth
The failures of traditional education
Critique of extractive capitalism
ChatGPT as a tool to support life
Real-life use case: chargeback script for Cabo resort

Links & Resources for This Episode

Subscribe to the ChatGPT Curious Newsletter
Submit a Question
Visit the Website
Feeling curious AND generous? Click here to support the podcast.

Chapters

(00:00:00) - ChatGPT Curious
(00:00:38) - Is CHAT GPT Killing Creativity?
(00:01:38) - Is ChatGPT killing creativity now?
(00:03:33) - ChatGPT: Is It Killing Creativity?
(00:04:43) - The Great AI Reckonance
(00:08:11) - How to Talk to Students About the Environment
(00:10:52) - Does ChatGPT Kill Creativity?
(00:14:12) - How I Use ChatGPT

Trailer: Welcome to Prompting Curiosity

Monday, July 14, 2025 • Duration 06:22

Welcome to the trailer episode of Prompting Curiosity! In this episode I lay out why I created the show, what kind of topics I’ll be exploring, and how I hope it supports your curiosity. From basic terms to big-picture questions, the goal is to make AI more useful, less overwhelming, and maybe even a little fun.

Main Topics Covered