When AI Helped Me Plan A 70th Birthday Celebration
September has always signalled a new start for me, not only is it back to school but my birthday falls on the 1st so it is literally the start of my new year. My dad’s birthday also falls this month and this year it was a big one – his 70th. As we live on different sides of the Atlantic we don’t usually get to spend birthdays together, but he was over in the UK so this year he was able to come to mine to celebrate.
We’re not big party people, and with family scattered far and wide, a large gathering wasn’t on the cards. But I wanted to do something thoughtful to mark the occasion. I have a bit of a history of creating quizzes and activities for family – during lockdown it was my daughter’s birthday which always falls around Eurovision, and she’s a huge fan. Being 2020 like everything else, it was cancelled but I was determined to give her a Eurovision party so hosted my own contest. I got family members to represent different countries and record their scores for a selection of the real life songs (if you missed Iceland’s 2020 entry, Think About Things, you need to check it out—it was robbed!). Anyway, I created a contest for her to watch and I also managed to get people from all over Europe to record a video of them wishing her happy birthday. This gives you a taste of the type of thing I like to do in my spare time! So, instead of a traditional party, a personalised activity for my dad seemed ideal.
Starting delivery of a new bootcamp and the back-to-school rush meant time was tight, so I turned to generative AI to help bring my ideas to life. With AI’s support, I crafted a themed quiz and even a custom song, turning AI into my party-planning sidekick!
Using Generative AI to Create a Personalised Quiz
My dad isn’t really one for games, he likes to watch sport, he’s into his rotary club so I knew it would take a bit of warming up.ChatGPT helped me create a personalised quiz, incorporating moments from his life over the last 70 years, including places he’s lived, sports he loves, and jobs he’s held. Each round had a theme, from general knowledge to a “guess the place” picture round featuring old family photos. For variety, I added a (non-AI-generated) whisky tasting round midway through.
To involve family members who couldn’t attend, I created a ‘Blankety Blank’ round, gathering video responses to family questions with potentially humorous answers. Dad had to guess if his answers would match any of theirs—this was great fun to do. Each quiz round ended with a ‘prize,’ which was how I gifted him his birthday presents.
To make the quiz truly personal, I provided ChatGPT with a brief bio about Dad, including his hobbies, favourite football team, and a short history of his life’s key moments. This step was essential for generating responses that felt personal rather than generic.
Top Tip: When using ChatGPT for customised content, start with a clear brief. Include key likes, dislikes, and specific themes to avoid generic answers. The more you feed into the prompt, the better your results will be.
The best part?
The quiz felt like something I’d spent hours researching and planning, but in reality, ChatGPT had cut the legwork down significantly. When I’ve done quizzes before I’ve spent hours with Google thinking of questions and researching answers. As you should be with any use of AI I was completely transparent with Dad that it had helped and he was incredibly impressed.
A Photo Montage and Custom Song
To wrap up the evening, I put together a photo montage spanning his life. To make it extra special, I used Suno to create a personalised song. All I had to do was input a few ideas about the music style (blues) and topics to include, and Suno generated a soundtrack that felt like it was crafted just for him. Dad and everyone else were impressed—and didn’t even realise at first that the song was AI-generated!
Here’s the link if you want a listen.
I loved that the generative AI tools let me create something that felt so authentic and personal without spending hours tweaking every detail myself.
A Zelda-Themed Treasure Hunt, with a Few Twists
This wasn’t my first time using AI to bring a bit of fun to family moments. Last year, I planned a Zelda-themed treasure hunt for my daughter. ChatGPT helped me craft clues that felt straight out of the game. There were anagrams, ciphers, and cryptic questions, all leading to her ultimate prize: the game Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
It wasn’t without its hiccups, though. ChatGPT sometimes “hallucinates,” making up a few ‘facts’ that didn’t quite line up with the game’s lore. My daughter, a true fan, noticed right away and called me out! This was a good reminder to fact-check AI-generated content, especially when your audience knows the topic well.
Top Tip: When using AI for themed activities or quizzes, double-check the facts! Generative AI can sometimes get overconfident, so review each response if you’re aiming for authenticity.
The Free Generative AI Tools I Used
For anyone interested in experimenting with generative AI, here’s the tools I used that brought these celebrations to life:
- ChatGPT: My go-to for crafting the trivia quiz and Zelda treasure hunt. With a few prompts and personalisd input, it generated a quiz and clues that I was able to add my human touch to.
Customisation Tip: Provide ChatGPT with as much context as possible. For example, I included details about Dad’s likes and dislikes, making the output feel genuinely “him” instead of generic. - Suno: The tool I used to create a custom song. Suno uses AI to generate personalised music and soundtracks based on your input preferences, like genre, mood, or themes – no musical expertise required.
Benefits and Drawbacks of Using AI for Personal Moments
Generative AI can sometimes feel impersonal, but it surprised me just how much it added to these celebrations. I saved hours of planning, and the experience felt uniquely tailored – this was due to me taking time to ensure my prompts were customised and included the personal details that were important for the occasions. The key benefits were the speed and ease with which I could create something memorable, while the main drawback was needing to fact-check any trivia-heavy content to avoid any slips (especially with super-fans involved!).
Looking forward to seeing where else I can sprinkle in a bit of AI magic!
