I saved hundreds of dollars by asking AI for back-to-school deals. Here's how

Most of us are pretty disgruntled with AI right about now. We're worried it's reshaping the workforce , overwhelming us with AI slop and guzzling resources like a parched teen parked in front of an open fridge. 

But none of that changes the fact that most of us are using it anyway - ChatGPT recently confirmed that a billion people use it every week, while Google's Gemini reports a billion users per month — and it's the single best tool I've found to save money on back-to-school shopping this year. 

The National Retail Federation says the average family plans to shell out close to $900 per child this year. College students will spend nearly $1,400 as they head into the fall semester. 

Electronics take up the biggest chunk of those budgets, which raises another red flag: Laptop prices are skyrocketing. AI data centers are buying up the same memory chips that go into consumer computers, and we've seen prices on some models climb more than $200 in the last few weeks.

I spent about 30 hours testing prompts, running supply lists and finding a few genius tips and tricks to save time and money this year. 

One note before we dive in: I used the paid $20 ChatGPT Plus plan here because it handles everything in one place. Other popular models like Gemini, Claude, and Copilot can do most of it individually, but for uploading photos, live voice prompts , and shopping research , ChatGPT delivered the best results. 

How can I make ChatGPT safe? 

Adjust a few settings before you share any personal information, and be careful with what you share. 

Open Settings → tap Data Controls , and toggle off "Improve the model for everyone." 

Use a Temporary Chat for any family details, so it stays out of your ChatGPT history and memory. 

Remove names, ages, addresses, ID numbers, account numbers, medical details, and anything else you don't want to accidentally leak to strangers. OpenAI explains those controls here .

Now, we're ready to roll.

Price the whole list before you spend a dime

Upload your child's back-to-school-supply list directly to ChatGPT. You can copy and paste it, or just snap a photo. If you don't have the list yet, check out TeacherLists , and it pulls them up in a flash. 

If there's a laptop or tablet on the list, pull that out; we'll run that search separately. 

Enter this exact prompt: (AI helped me craft the perfect marching orders here.)

"Here's my kid's school supply list and my ZIP code. Find today's lowest prices, verify everything is actually in stock, and price it three ways: cheapest overall, cheapest one-store pickup, and the best practical deal without running all over town. Match every school requirement exactly, put everything in a table with retailer links, and tell me where the big savings actually are." 

I used a current high school supply list for this example, but also repeated this prompt for other lists for every K-12 grade, and then again for college and grad school lists. It takes ChatGPT as long as 10 minutes to do the deep research here, and you want it to take that long to do a really thorough job. 

I ran the exact same shopping list through Amazon, and the total savings from the ChatGPT list was about $150. In several college simulations, I saved more than $400. 

Another great trick here? Snap a photo of whatever drawer last year's school supplies are in, upload it to ChatGPT, and it automatically crosses off stuff you already have.

How can I save on laptops? 

After much trial and error, I found it's faster and more accurate to search for the right laptop on its own—not with the gluesticks and 3-ring binders. Researching laptops sends ChatGPT down a much deeper spec-and-feature rabbit hole and can bog down your search for an hour or more before it finally gives up. 

First step here? Copy and paste the school BYOD (bring your own device) requirements at the top of your chat window. Then, enter this exact prompt:

"Find the best-value laptop that meets or beats every requirement for under $[800]. Compare current prices for the exact same configuration across major retailers, check student discounts, and prioritize 16GB+ RAM, 512GB+ storage, good battery life, durability, and under 4 pounds. Give me three picks: the cheapest worth buying, the best value, and the best splurge. Flag any compatibility issues before I buy."

Based on my specific requests, here are the five models ChatGPT showed me. Coincidentally, I've reviewed three of the five models that made this list: Lenovo's IdeaPad Slim 3i , Dell's XPS 13 and Asus's Zenbook A16 , and agree with the bot that these are all excellent picks. 

Be sure to check the prices. I found that each one of these models has student discounts, and Best Buy is running specials on many of them as well. 

I also used ChatGPT to help solve several other common back-to-school issues , like finding the right gadget to keep in touch with kids too young for a cellphone, and finding a device to help keep track of everyone's convoluted schedules. 

At the end of the day, no tech tool beats good parenting. ChatGPT won't do the homework or raise your child. But for finding a better price, it definitely beats clipping coupons.

Jennifer Jolly is an Emmy Award-winning consumer tech columnist and on-air contributor for "The Today Show." The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY. Contact her via Techish.com or  @JennJolly on Instagram . 

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: I saved hundreds of dollars by asking AI for back-to-school deals. Here's how