This Sunday is Father’s Day and with it comes the dreaded “What do I get dad” or whomever the father figure is in your life — for some that will be mom. Dad’s can be notoriously difficult to buy for, especially on a budget, but can ChatGPT help? I decided to find out.
It can be just as frustrating from the other side. I started collecting mugs to make it easier for my children and grandchildren to find something to buy me after my “I don’t need anything” proclamations continuously fell on deaf ears.
If your father figure doesn’t have a hobby or collect anything particularly easy then these prompt ideas will help you work with ChatGPT to make June 16 more than just another day.
I also heartily recommend checking out the gift guides and tips from Tom’s Guide around Father’s Day sales and offers as there are some real deals to be found.
Creating the prompts
In crafting the prompts I wanted to put ChatGPT in advisor mode, essentially setting it up to start a dialogue rather than a single one-shot prompt. So be ready to reply to what it offers or ask for more information. You can also swap in alternative words or topics to suit your own dad.
You should add a brief explanation of your dad at the start. Leave off his name and any personal information but include his age and the country he lives in.
Maybe say how many children he has and whether he’s a granddad. If you’re doing this for a mom or father figure, do the same for them but make it clear their relationship to you.
If that isn’t right, you could always gift him a $20/month subscription to ChatGPT!
1. Ideas to match a hobby
This is a good place to start. Dads love a hobby, mine is playing guitar and coding games for iOS. I’d assume it’d suggest something like sheet music or a mouse for my hobbies.
The prompt: "My dad loves [insert interests/hobbies]. Can you search for highly-rated, unique gift ideas related to these interests that I could get him for Father's Day? Please include product links and reviews to help me find the perfect meaningful gift."
ChatGPT will use its Search functionality to go online and look for gifts it can find. In my case, I gave it my own hobbies and it offered up the Vox amPlug 2 AC30 Headphone Guitar Amp ($45, Amazon). It also suggested the Kyser Quick-Change Capo ($25, Amazon) and the Elgato Steam Deck, (currently $20 off at Amazon).
2. A perfect experience
Next let’s get out of the house. I asked ChatGPT to come up with some activities based on my dad’s interests. Here you can remove the location but including a general area will improve the accuracy.
"I want to plan a special Father's Day experience for my dad, who enjoys [insert activities]. Can you search for father-child bonding activities or local events happening on Father's Day in [insert location]? Please provide details and links to help me plan the perfect day."
I gave it golf and live music as hobbies and New York City as a location. It suggested a range of activities including mini golf and a brewery tour, as well as links to book each event. You can also ask it to clarify any item or try again.
3. Cooking for dad
Food, glorious food. What better way to say I love you than through cooking dinner for your dad. Here I gave it Italian as my dad’s favorite cuisine but in reality my dad is very British and likes pie and mash.
"I'm cooking my dad his favorite [insert cuisine or dish] for Father's Day dinner. Can you search for the best-rated recipe online, provide a step-by-step guide, and include tips from top chefs to make the dish extra special? Links to the recipe and resources would be helpful."
It offered up Baked Ziti with Sausage including the full recipe and step-by-step instructions. You can ask it to swap in or out any specific ingredient or to try again.
4. The care package
Now that he’s had his gift, a day out and a nice meal dad will need a bit of rest. Let’s see if ChatGPT can design a care package to fit in a shoe box.
"I'm creating a Father's Day care package for my dad. Can you search for unique, high-quality items that align with his tastes and have great online reviews? Please include product links and descriptions to help me curate the perfect gift box. Keep it to smaller items and cheaper gifts for a shoe box sized basket. "
For me it went a little heavy on high quality, offering items priced between $50 and $90 and most of it from Etsy including waxed aprons, like this Safety Apron (currently 39% off on Amazon), and a set of BBQ sauces.
5. Learning something new
If your dad is anything like me he’ll want to spend time learning something new. Whether that is just going down a Wikipedia rabbit hole or taking a formal course online, it is a good way to pass the time.
The Prompt: "For Father's Day, I want to gift my dad, who loves learning, an online course or masterclass in [insert topic]. Can you search for the highest-rated, most engaging courses from reputable platforms and provide a list with course descriptions and links for me to choose from?"
I picked Quantum Physics as that is my current pet topic but it could be anything. It offered a range of courses from EdX and Coursera running classes from leading universities in various aspects of quantum physics. You can ask for class plans or more details for each idea.
6. A Father’s Day card
One thing you can't forget is a Father's Day card. ChatGPT has access to the DALL-E 3 AI image generator, just use a word like generator, create or DALL-E in the prompt.
The prompt: "I want to create a personalized Father's Day card for my dad featuring our favorite shared memories. Can you use DALL-E to generate a heartfelt card layout incorporating [insert specific memories or themes, e.g., fishing trips, working on cars together]? The card should include a touching message expressing my love and gratitude, along with images representing our bond."
It didn't do a bad job. You could refine the prompt to tell it just to create teh front cover of the card, avoiding the wider design features.
7. A t-shirt for Dad
Lets finish up with a t-shirt design idea that you could put on a customized shirt for your dad. Here you can tell ChatGPT your dad's interests and it will create the design. You can also specify other aspects such as shirt color or shape.
The prompt: "I want to design a custom t-shirt for my dad as a Father's Day gift using DALL-E. He loves [insert interests, e.g., classic cars, hiking, dad jokes]. Can you create a few t-shirt designs incorporating these interests along with a 'Best Dad Ever' or similar message? I'm looking for something unique and personal that he'll be proud to wear."
If my children got this t-shirt for me I'd wear it in a heartbeat — it looks amazing. I think I'd prefer it on a black t-shirt though.
More from Tom's Guide
If you enjoyed the prompts this week why share your output with us and then try out a series of Google Gemini prompt ideas or even make a story, song and images from previous weeks.
