Hi, I’m Melissa — creative director at Good Housekeeping, general adult, and newly obsessed with actually understanding how things work.
There are a million little things I feel like I should already know.
- How to wire speakers.
- How to reseal windows.
- How to decode a blinking router, pick the right pan, or figure out why my bathroom smells like the end of the world.
Basic stuff. Grown-up stuff. But somehow I missed the manual.
And if you’ve ever stared at a tangle of wires and thought, “I should already know this” — you’re not alone.
Most of us were never taught these things. Not at school. Not at home. You hit a certain age and suddenly you’re expected to just know how to take care of a house, a body, a bank account — and you either fake it or pay someone who sounds confident enough.
For years, I outsourced that feeling. Hired help. Avoided the learning curve. Told myself I wasn’t “technical” or “wired that way.”
But recently, something changed.
I started using AI — not just to learn, but to save real money.
What should’ve cost me $500 ended up costing nothing but a few smart questions, a wire stripper, and some stubborn curiosity.
Not in a gimmicky, robot-bestie way — more like texting a friend who actually knows what they’re doing (and doesn’t make you feel dumb for asking). My current go-tos are ChatGPT and Claude. They’re free, visual (you can upload photos now), and patient enough to walk me through questions I used to be too embarrassed to ask out loud.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s a time and place for professionals, and I totally value their expertise. If I have a major plumbing problem or a complicated construction project, no amount of artificial intelligence will make me qualified to do it. But at some point, we all started defaulting to outsourcing things we could pretty easily learn ourselves. And to be honest, I’m tired of paying strangers to explain things to me, I still won’t understand
Case in point: I moved into a new place and discovered a morass of speakers, wires and unidentifiable electrical-looking things. Past me would have absolutely paid someone to figure it all out. But optimized me thought: Why not see if AI could teach me how to do it?
The Speaker Situation That Nearly Broke Me
Here’s what I discovered in my new apartment:
- Five ceiling speakers (mystery wires, no labels)
- Two outdoor speakers (who knew?)
- A closet AV panel with enough loose cables to power a small country
This was the kind of thing I used to hand off immediately. Call a professional, pretend to understand, hand over my credit card — and fade into the wallpaper like a Victorian wife.
But this time, I tried something different.
I uploaded a photo of the wires and asked AI: “Can I connect these to a sound system?”
That one question changed everything.
How AI Walked Me Through It
I dumped every question into AI:
- Where do these wires go?
- Do I need an amplifier?
- What the hell is a banana plug?
- Why does my TV only have one HDMI ARC port? That seems rude.
- How do I connect a Sonos Amp to all of this without starting an electrical fire?
AI — like the overachiever who always does the group project — answered everything instantly. No tech background required. No fear of messing it up. Just clear, step-by-step answers that made me feel like I could actually do this — without breaking anything.
✔ Yes, you need an amp
✔ Yes, you need banana plugs
✔ Yes, you can group multiple speakers into a zone
It felt like having a patient kindergarten teacher in my pocket — calm, clear, and never condescending. One who doesn’t make you feel dumb for not knowing the difference between a port and a plug — and genuinely wants you to learn.
That’s what shifted it for me. This wasn’t about getting it done anymore. It was about finally understanding how the thing worked.
Reality Check: I Still Asked a Real Human
As I worked with AI, I mostly trusted it — but I’m not reckless. Before risking a speaker fire (or my apartment), I ran the plan past Alec Scherma — our GH Home Tech expert and, importantly, a real human.
I braced for the eye-roll. Instead, he looked over my AI-sourced game plan and said:
“Honestly? This looks super solid. You’re not wiring into an electrical panel — worst case, you short the speakers. You’re not gonna blow anything up.”
Which, to me, felt like a high-five.
He also pointed out that asking AI about safety right up front was smart — and said he might start doing the same: snapping photos and letting AI walk him through the basics.
If that’s not a win, I don’t know what is.
Supplies AI Made Me Buy:
✔ Sonos amp – The expensive brain of this whole operation that I refused to admit I needed until AI insisted.
✔ Banana plugs – So I wouldn’t have to shove raw speaker wire into the amp.
✔ Speaker wire – AI said I’d need extra. AI was right.
✔ Wire stripper – Not as scary as it sounds, but completely essential.
What Actually Happened
I bought the parts AI suggested. I followed the steps. I stripped wires. I learned what a speaker selector was (basically a power strip for audio), and figured out what to return.
But the real win? I trusted myself to learn something new — and pulled it off. And not just the what, but the how.
I didn’t skip the scary part. I didn’t outsource my curiosity. When I finally hit play on The Last of Us Season 2, and the haunting theme echoed through every speaker, I felt like I’d unlocked a new level of adulthood.
So Why Am I Telling You This?
Because this story isn’t really about speakers. It’s about access — to information, to learning, to self-trust.
Tools like ChatGPT won’t make you an expert overnight. But they will help you learn the things you never got to — no tech skills required, no risk of blowing anything up.
It’s low-stakes, high-reward learning. On your terms. At your pace.
So if you’ve ever felt behind — in confidence, in life, in basic know-how — this might be exactly where to start.
It was for me.
Next up? I’m making it plan my garden.
Melissa leads the creative vision at Good Housekeeping, where she and her team concept, design, and produce everything from standout covers and original video to scroll-stopping social, styling, and shoots that set the tone for the brand. She works alongside scientists at the iconic Good Housekeeping Institute to bring lab research to life — turning product testing into stories readers can trust. With over 15 years in media, she brings creative strategy to every project and leads a wildly talented team of designers, producers, stylists, and photographers who basically own the holidays. She believes the best creative direction starts with curiosity — and just the right amount of chaos. (edited)
