In this heartfelt and engaging episode, Paul embarks on a mission to find the perfect name for his baby girl—with the help of AI, specifically Grok. The journey takes listeners through a range of creative approaches for baby naming, from considering personal values and cultural heritage to exploring historical, mythological, and nature-inspired options. Paul and Grok dissect the importance of names being easy to pronounce in both English and Norwegian, avoiding current trends or problematic nicknames, and resonating with deeper meaning for both parents. Paul shares the constraints and hopes for his daughter's name—wanting something timeless, meaningful, and unique but not trendy or difficult—and deploys Grok to suggest names that reflect bravery, individuality, and the wonders of nature. The process covers different techniques including vibe-based brainstorming, associations with literature or geography, as well as looking at classical, ancient, and Australian-rooted names. Together, they shortlist and reflect on each suggestion’s background, significance, and how it might be perceived in different countries. This lively, unscripted conversation is a masterclass in using AI as a creative partner for big life decisions. The episode is packed with actionable frameworks, name lists, historical tidbits, and a demonstration of how AI can act as an insightful, supportive co-brainstormer. Listeners are left with plenty of takeaway strategies for leveraging AI in personal naming or other big, complex family decisions. 🎙️ Hosted by Paul at Talking to AI — where real people, real problems, and real conversations meet artificial intelligence. Full TranscriptI am talking to AI.A successful day, you don't need to know all the answers.Just have good questions.Chatting to AI is different from normal speechand I hope you enjoy listening to the showwhilst getting ideas on how to pose your questionsto get the most out of AI.My name is Paul.The live conversations you hear are uncutalthough sometimes the AI needs time to think.In those cases, I've cut out the dead space.This is going to be my third attemptat coming up with a good name for my baby girl.So I'll be talking to Grock.We'll be looking through a few different approaches.I'm going to try getting Grock to put itselfin the shoes of some different people.Maybe I'll get some ideas that way.I'm also going to logically approach the questionwith some ideas that may help.Hopefully, this time, I will actually getto some kind of decent conclusion.So far, it hasn't been very successfuland I am still without a name.This is problematic because we're wantingto go for a flight soon and we've realisedthat we actually have to give the baby a namebefore we go to a flight because we have to get a passport.So this is coming to a head.We thought we had six months to make this decision.I would have loved to procrastinate it over thatfor six months but it looks like I'm actuallygoing to have to make a decision more quickly than that.So this is where I get my good friend,I think Grock today because I'll be quite honest.I'm preferring talking to Grock at the momentbecause Grock just seems to be a little bit more succinctthan ChatGPT and I get a bit sick of the fluffy natureof the answers that I get from ChatGPT.So it could be that I could change thatbut it does seem like there's quite a lot of waysto change the sounds in Grock and the style.So I'm going to do that.I'm going to experiment a little bit with the styleand we are going to hopefully come upwith some good ideas this time.So here we go.So let's just get Grock on the line.Grock.What was that?Microphone access is denied.Check your browser settings.Wonderful.Microphone.Microphone.The joys of technology.Hello, Grock.Hello, Grock.Can you hear me?Yes.Loud and clear, Paul.What's up?I want you to help me with some baby names.Sure.Girl or boy?Girl.Gotcha.How about Nora?It means light, super sweet and strong.Or maybe Lila.Playful yet sweet.Any style you like?Classic or modern?Yes.I'm going to need a bit more thinking than that.I hate the name Nora.Reminds me of a character in a British TV showcalled Nora Batty.If you don't know what that is, then you look it upand it doesn't fill me with any enthusiasmfor a baby name.And I understand Nora is also the default name.If we don't make the name Nora Batty,we don't make the name Nora Batty.And I understand Nora is also the default name.And if we don't make her mind up in six monthsin Norway,they come up with a name for youbased on the popularity of the name.And Nora is actually the most popular namein Oslo at the moment for babies.So that is the default name.So if I wanted Nora,I could just wait.But I don't want Nora.So here's what I want you to do.Okay, so we're going to try this in a...Actually what?Come up with some ideas for me, right?So I've tried to do this beforeand failed, right?So I need some different approachesthat are going to hopefully get my brain untangledand get things movingin the right direction.So let me explain what I've tried so far.So far, I've tried givinga sort of laundry list of thingsthat were important to me about this name.And then we've sort of gone through in that approach.And it's sort ofcome up with some ideas, but nothing's reallyjived with me. But there are some,I suppose there are some essential characteristicsof the name that are going to be important to me,which are going to mean that if it doesn'thave some of those characteristics, it's going to be a deal breaker.But beyond that,I need some kind of approach.Maybe there's a fewdifferent things we can tryand that willsort of look at this problem in different ways,so that you can reallyhelp me with asort of facilitationto try to come up with...I can come up with some things, you can come up with some things,but you can also sort of facilitatesome kind of frameworkto help get these...get the goal out of my head.What do you suggest?All right, Paul.Let's shake this up.Instead of a laundry list, let's trya vibe-based approach first.Think about the feeling the name should give off.Do you want it to feel soft and dreamy,like Eliza?Or bold and spunky, like Zoe?You could also play with associations.Maybe names tied to places you love,like Vienna or Aspenor Nature, like Willow or Sage.Or, want me to throw outrandom pairs, like one classic,one modern, and you say which clicks?What's your gut saying?I'll tell you what.Maybe I should give you some of thesort of things that we have to think about.And then we could try some of theseexperiments, because otherwisewe might end up coming up with ideasthat are not right.What do you think?Yeah, totally.Lay out what's on your mind first.Essential deal-breakers or must-haves,like length, sound,origin, anything,then we'll experiment from there.Okay, so it's importantthat the name iseasy to pronouncein both Norwegian and English.And also that it doesn't meansomething that can easily be conscruedas something that you would,especially in English,that you could use to turn itinto some kind of dodgy nickname.Or if it just meanssomething rude in English, that will notbe very funny.Not so much of a problem in Norwaybecause Norwegians don't tend to be as rudeto each other.And...
