Research studio · five real problems

Use AI to investigate a real problem — then make your own case for a solution.

Each exercise gives one local project a home. Create a folder, attach a study pet, use AI to explore the problem, verify the evidence, and propose a small testable change.

01 · Real-world problem

Make a first-home budget work

A student or young adult living independently can struggle to see where money goes and which bills are essential.

Research question

How could one person make a realistic first monthly budget that reduces avoidable stress without relying on risky financial advice?

Ask AI to help you think

  • ›Turn a broad concern into fixed, variable, and occasional costs.
  • ›Suggest questions that expose assumptions in a draft budget.
  • ›Challenge a savings idea for feasibility and trade-offs.

Verify with evidence

  • •Use the person’s own non-sensitive expense categories.
  • •Check official consumer or bank guidance for factual claims.
  • •Clearly separate a planning tool from financial advice.

Your proposal

A private monthly-budget template with a weekly check-in and one low-risk improvement.

First success measure

Whether all expected costs are visible before the month begins.

The AI does not become your source.

Use it to generate questions, search terms, counterarguments, and rough structures. Open the source yourself, record what was verified, and explain what you accepted, changed, or rejected. Follow your course’s AI rules and do not enter personal, confidential, or unpublished course information into public tools.