Think about the first time you used a mobile app. Or for our older readers, the first time you used a computer. It was life-changing. In some cases, it was mind-blowing. “You’re telling me I can use this ‘app’ on my phone…and someone will come to my home and bring me to the airport?”

Or, for recreation professionals, the development of software that collects payment, waivers and participant shirt sizes with a few clicks. Technology has come such a long way in our lifetime and recreation software has changed the way many of us work. Today, we are presented with an innovation that in a few years could revolutionize our industry.

At this point, most of us have at least heard of OpenAI and its cutting-edge technology, ChatGPT. Like some folks, I was hesitant at first. I don’t work in technology; I schedule floor hockey games and adult yoga classes. I have a summer program on the horizon and my to-do list is a mile long. AI likely isn’t for me as a park and recreation professional.

On my way home from work one day I was listening to a podcast. The topic was how this new technology was revolutionary and would change the world. The conversation was interesting enough that I didn’t turn it off. It beat the sound of honking in Greater Boston traffic. But through the sound of road rage, there was part of the conversation that stood out to me. The speaker referenced this technology and said, “…With this, everyone gains a teammate, an infinitely patient intern”.

My mind immediately started considering where I’m at with my work. I’m in my first year of a new position as a department head of a modest, yet very busy team. Without getting detailed, we have a lot of ground to cover in creating or bringing foundational documents up to date.

I got to the office the next day. I had already planned to dedicate some time that morning to draft a few things for our summer program and figured I would test out ChatGPT with something easy. I created an account and typed the prompt, “Write me a welcome letter to families for a town-run summer program.”  The output shocked me (read the letter here).

Now, as I said, this was not a time-consuming task for me to take on independently. With a little bit of thought and some time online, I likely could’ve arrived at something close to this and in a mostly final form in around 30-45 minutes — if my coffee hasn’t worn off. This site allowed me to turn 30-45 minutes to 30-45 seconds.

On my lunch break, I figured I would try something else out. I entered some availability for staff based on last year’s pool schedule with another simple prompt:

“Tom has availability from 1 p.m.-4 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Friday. Alexa has availability Monday through Friday from 1 p.m.-6 p.m. Terry has availability from 4 p.m.-5 p.m. on Monday, 2 p.m.-3 p.m. on Tuesday, and 3:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Scott has availability from 1 p.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and from 1 p.m.-5 p.m. on Friday. Find a time to schedule a half-hour staff meeting with as many team members as possible.”

The response from ChatGPT was:

“Based on the availability provided, the best time to schedule a half-hour staff meeting with as many team members as possible would be: Thursday from 1:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. During this time, Tom, Terry and Scott are all available. Unfortunately, Alexa is not available during this time, but it is the best option for maximizing the number of team members present at the meeting.”

In one application, this technology that I thought would never impact me or the work I do has allowed our team to save hours of time and effort. It was able to write program descriptions in four sentences or less for our brochures and website. It was even able to generate recommended rules for our town pool and etiquette for our new pickleball courts.

On the ride home that day I thought about the first phone I had as a teenager. Sadly, that was already 16 years ago. In 16 years, we went from hitting a button three times to typing out a single letter in a text, to having touch screens on computers that can source information from around the world and provide you with an eloquent write-up of nearly anything you prompt it with. As I write this, I can’t think of any better call to action for understaffed, underfunded park and recreation departments than to give this a try.

Ironically enough, the use of technology may allow us to focus on the more human parts of our jobs.

Joe Pitti is the Deputy Director for Health & Community Services and Community Engagement & Programming for Town of Easton, Massachusetts.