Title: Getting Things Done with AI: What You Can Do with Prompts, Tools, and Agents

Speaker: Hunter Jiang, Phd Student @ NC State

Time: June 4th, 2025 08:30 PM Eastern Time
 

Abstract:
Artificial Intelligence is no longer just a buzzword—it’s something you can use right now to solve everyday problems, spark creativity, and save time. But what exactly can you do with tools like ChatGPT, and how do you get the most out of them?

In this talk, we’ll break down three ways people interact with today’s most powerful language models:

• Prompting: How asking the right questions (or giving the right instructions) can help you write, plan, learn, and ideate.
• Tool Use: How language models can go beyond text to help you browse the web, crunch numbers, or generate visuals by calling tools on your behalf.
• Agents: How AI can take on more complex tasks—like planning trips or managing emails—by combining memory, reasoning, and tool use across multiple steps.

We’ll follow a single example—planning a weekend getaway—to show how prompting, tool use, and AI agents each add more capability. From getting destination ideas to booking and itinerary planning, you'll see how each level of AI assistance builds on the last.

Speaker bio:

Hunter is currently a Ph.D. student in Statistics at North Carolina State University. He holds an M.S. in Statistics from the same institution and a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from Xinjiang University. His research interests include integrating large language models with statistical methods, model interpretability, causal inference, and reinforcement learning.