The use of AI in the professor’s office can be a source of great fun or great aggravation. This presentation shares specific, prosaic problems that were solved well by generative AI. In particular, we will explore three distinct success stories: 1. Administrative efficiency: building LaTeX files for class notes; 2. Assessment design: using AI to generate diverse, standards-aligned exam questions; and 3. Programmatic visualization: using AI-assisted coding to build Mathematica animations of poles of Padé approximants.

The presentation will also candidly address the dead ends of generative AI, discussing failed attempts at posing research-level open problems and the frustrations of iterative assignment design.