ChatGPT may work wonders for mental health — or not
BlackTechLogy: Along with tech instructions and fact-checking, ChatGPT suggested ways to handle busybody neighbors
February 5, 2026: This post was written before I knew ChatGPT caricatures were trending on Google. Creating ChatGPT caricature images was more fun than the activity below. I’ve previously tested animated images and caricatures on Google Messages and other platforms, but the people end up looking totally different most of the time. ChatGPT may be the most accurate of the bunch. However, both text and image re-creation serve their purposes. Creative outlets, including seeing what my dog would look like as a human, always give me a sense of joy.
This post is part of a series entitled “BlackTechLogy.” Click here for the archived posts.
For the past couple of weeks in Chicago, there have been ice-cold temperatures outside, as low as 14 degrees below zero one day and nine degrees below zero the next. When I saw this “One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning” graphic about “10 Simple Tips To Keep Your Home Warm” — and after bleeding my baseboard heaters — I followed a few extra heating tips. They worked, and I wanted to spread the word. I posted a printout of the graphic on the tack board in my lobby to help other residents.
While hibernating in the warmest room in my home to avoid a sky-high electricity bill from my electric baseboard heater and space heater, I baked a couple of racks of fresh bread to skip going to the grocery store and enjoyed the peace and quiet. (Sorta. There was the occasional issue with loud neighbors upstairs, but it was reasonably quiet before then.)
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Days later and still consistently cold, I was alarmed when I heard a loud ripping noise in my lobby. Scrambling to find out why my dog was going bonkers barking and where this noise was coming from, I looked out of my peephole to see a condo board member had ripped the tack board completely off the wall, only leaving sticky tape behind. Why? He apparently didn’t like that I posted this “One Hour Heating” warmth sign. (He 100% knew it was me.) Instead of removing the piece of paper alone, he tore the board and almost damaged the wall. Then he returned a second time to remove the wall adhesive. After observing quite possibly one of the most childish moves I’ve ever seen from a grown man, I shook my head.
It was the zillionth example discrediting me (a former condo board member) trying to explain that not all condo association (COA) board members are power-hungry. Unfortunately, some prove the stereotype true every single time. In the worst cases, these adult hall monitors make it impossible to not talk to a judge and file discrimination claims. But paying legal fees over a tack board is not worth all that. I was already freezing my legs off while walking my dog multiple times a day, never mind humoring going to a courthouse. Hard pass.
So I decided to reach out to ChatGPT and ask the following question, “Give me 10 tips to avoid getting angry from meddling neighbors who keep bothering me.”
One of the 10 answers from ChatGPT?
TIP ONE: “Use humor internally.
Silently narrate them like a documentary: ‘Here we see the Common Busybody in its natural habitat…’
Sounds silly — works surprisingly well.”
Considering White House AI image antics were supposed to be humorous (to some), I could easily see why this documentary idea would become dark humor way too fast. (In the White House’s case, that ended in an unjustifiable arrest of an activist and making light of an alleged ICE member/pastor.)
I opted out of this idea, even doing it “silently.” I read through the other nine tips from ChatGPT and was still annoyed at the sight on the other side of my peephole. So, I taped the same heat sign to the wall in my lobby a second time. Minutes later, the same COA member returned to our lobby a third time (although he lives in a completely different part of the building and has no reason to be in our lobby at all) to rip this non-controversial sign down a second time.
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Maturity went out the window. I created an image that resembled the tack board-ripping COA member and added that silent documentary wording as a photo caption. To my surprise, I immediately chuckled. The meme made me realize the ridiculousness of this situation. I needed to make peace with the idea that this was just his personality. Pettiness was glued to him as much as those reflective vests and jacket-pants suits.
TIP TWO: Name the pattern (privately).
Notice when and why they meddle. Are they bored? Control-oriented? “Concerned” but intrusive? Labeling it helps you stop taking it personally.
ChatGPT was correct. Don’t take it personal. This is more about him than it will ever be about me. I started to understand why people are turning to large language models like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini for their mental health.