Companion to the book

While you sleep…

The world is changing. Will you wake up and change it?

A warm, jargon-free book about artificial intelligence, written to take away the fear and show you (and your kids) how to become creators, not just consumers. Available in Spanish and German.

About the book

Something huge is happening, and most people feel it without knowing where to start. This book is a hand on your shoulder that wakes you gently and says: look what's going on — you're still in time to choose.

No technical knowledge required. In plain words it explains what AI really is, why it isn't something to fear, and how — starting tomorrow morning — you and your children can use it to create instead of merely consume.

It follows a small cast from age three to sixty, each standing at the same door as you: watch the world change, or change it yourself.

The promise

By the last page you won't be afraid of AI anymore. You'll understand, in simple terms, what's really happening — and you'll know how to take your first step.

Who it's for

Parents, employees, the self-employed, the curious and the sceptical. Anyone who senses something big is coming and wants to meet it as a creator.

Get the book

Available as eBook and paperback. Choose your edition:

• Spanish · Mientras duermes: eBook · Paperback
• German · Während du schläfst: eBook · Paperback
• English · While you sleep: eBook · Paperback
• French · Pendant que tu dors: eBook · Paperback
• Portuguese · Enquanto você dorme: eBook · Paperback
• Italian · Mentre dormi: eBook · Paperback

The toolbox

This is the living version of the book's appendix — the part you'll keep coming back to. The tools change fast, so this page stays current even after the book is printed.

1. Family everyday life

• Sort out tonight's dinner: I have [these ingredients] in the fridge. Give me three tasty, quick, easy dinners — each under 20 minutes.
• The week's meal plan: Make me a healthy, varied weekly meal plan for [number] people, one of them [a child / allergic to X]. Add the shopping list ordered by supermarket aisle.
• Weekend plan for the family: Suggest five cheap, fun weekend plans for a family with kids aged [ages], near [city or type of area]. Not all of them on a screen.
• An awkward message: Help me write a message to [tell someone something difficult]. Clear, honest and respectful, without sounding harsh.
• Understand the fine print: I'll paste you a [contract / bill / report]. Explain it in plain words and tell me what I should watch out for.
• Plan a trip: Plan me [3] days in [city] on [a tight budget]: a day-by-day plan, places to eat and realistic timings, with kids aged [ages].
• Fix something at home: Something at home has [broken / got stained]: [it]. Walk me through it step by step so I can try to fix it myself before calling a pro.
• Sort out the week: Here's everything I have to do this week, in no order: [list]. Prioritise it for me and tell me where to start.
• A birthday party: Help me throw a birthday for my [age]-year-old, theme [what they love], for [number] kids and a budget of [X]. Give me the plan, games, food and a shopping list.
• Routines that work: Design a fun, realistic [morning / bedtime] routine for an easily distracted [age]-year-old — short steps, with a touch of play.

2. Create with kids aged 3 to 6

• A story starring your child: You are a very warm storyteller. Write a short, tender story for a [age]-year-old called [name]. Hero: [their favourite animal or character]. Small problem: [whatever the child says]. They get through it bravely, with a friend's help. Happy ending, short sentences.
• A personalised song: Write the lyrics for a short, cheerful, very easy-to-sing song about [name] and [their dog / sibling / favourite adventure]. Simple rhymes and a catchy chorus.
• A "what if…?" story: Write a short, funny story for a [age]-year-old that begins: "What if [name] had [a power or magic object] for one day?" Cheerful, with a lovely ending.
• A magic drawing (to generate an image): Generate a colourful image in children's-book style of: [the child's exact description]. Cheerful, tender style, like a picture-book illustration.
• Role-play (the AI as a character): From now on you are [a friendly dragon / a fairy / a robot friend]. Play and chat with a [age]-year-old. Reply in the first person, short sentences, lots of warmth, and stay in character.
• Bedtime story: Create a very calm, soothing bedtime story for [name], aged [age]. Have them [float on a cloud / walk through a forest of light] and visit a place full of peace. Slow rhythm and a soft voice.
• A story with values: Write a short story that naturally teaches [sharing / patience / courage] to a [age]-year-old, with [name] as the hero. No forced moral.
• A memory album: Create a lovely illustration of the best moment [name] had this week: [description of the child]. Warm style, like a keepsake.
• Today's adventure: Invent a 2-minute mini-adventure for [name], aged [age], around [whatever they love right now]. To tell them before leaving the house.
• A story with the whole family: Write a short story where [name], [mum/dad] and [siblings] live an adventure together in [a place]. Each one helps with something. Happy ending.
• Riddles at their level: Give me five very easy, fun riddles for a [age]-year-old about [animals / the house / food], with the answer underneath each one.
• Their first "why" explained: Explain to a [age]-year-old, with a fun everyday example, why [the sky is blue / it rains / we sleep].

3. Create with kids aged 7 to 11

• A comic or picture book: Let's make an [8]-page comic. Hero: [name], aged [age]. Idea: [the child's]. First ask me questions so the child decides the characters, the problem and the ending. Then give me the structure and, page by page, the script plus the exact description of each image.
• Video script (YouTube/TikTok): Help us prepare a [length] video about [topic]. Full script: hook, three parts and a close. Natural language for [age]. Add three title and thumbnail ideas.
• Design an invented product: My [age]-year-old wants to invent [type of product]. Help us develop it: name, description, how it works, who it's for and how we'd sell it. Ask us questions so they decide.
• Create a full character: Let's create a detailed character with us: name, age, personality, powers or talents, backstory, looks, and friends or enemies. Ask us, so the child decides the important bits.
• Code-free video game: Let's design a simple video game. Theme: [child's idea]. Give me the story, hero, obstacles, three levels and the rules. Step by step, asking us the key decisions.
• Family magazine or newspaper: Help us put together a 6-page family magazine with: a home news story, an interview with [a grandparent], a puzzle, a comic strip and a recipe. Give me the structure and help us write it.
• Stories in chapters: Let's make a story series. Hero: [name]. Give me the overall idea, the characters and the full first chapter, with an ending that makes us want more.
• Science experiment + explanation: Suggest an easy, safe home experiment for a [age]-year-old about [topic]. Household materials, steps, and at the end a simple explanation the child can tell to someone else.
• The most patient tutor: Be a teacher with endless patience for a [age]-year-old. Explain [topic] with a fun example, then ask three questions and correct gently. Don't give the answer away — help them get there themselves.
• Revising for a test (playfully): Turn into a quiz show for my [age]-year-old about [exam topic]. One question at a time, with points, and celebrate the right answers.
• Their own joke or comic strip: Help a [age]-year-old create three jokes or a short comic strip about [something that makes them laugh]. Keep the humour wholesome and age-appropriate.
• A lovely letter or speech: Help my child write a [letter / short speech] for [Grandma's birthday]. It should come from their ideas: ask them questions and then shape it warmly.

4. Teens aged 12 to 16

• Micro-business ideas: Act as a realistic, motivating entrepreneurship coach for teens. I'm [age], have [X hours] a week and almost no money. My interests: [list]. Give me 5 realistic ideas from easiest to most ambitious. For #1, a concrete two-week plan.
• Action plan for a project: Help me turn this idea into a real project: [idea]. Give me the goal, weekly steps, tools and today's first task. Ask me what you need before planning.
• Learn what I'm passionate about: I want to learn [language / coding / drawing / video editing] from scratch. Design an 8-week plan with a short daily practice, free resources and a way to measure my progress every Sunday.
• 30-day content plan: Help me create a 30-day content plan about [topic] for [platform]. 30 ideas with catchy titles and the full script for the first three. It should sound like me, not like an ad.
• A professional portfolio: Help me set up a simple, good-looking digital portfolio for a [age]-year-old interested in [field]. Which sections to include, how to present small projects, and an honest bio (no personal data).
• Automate the repetitive: Every week I do this repetitive task: [describe it]. Help me do it in half the time or automate it with AI, explained step by step for a beginner.
• Prep for a tough exam: Be a demanding but motivating teacher for [subject]. Explain [topic], give me a five-question test, mark it in detail and tell me exactly what to revise.
• Improve my own writing: Here's a text of mine: [paste it]. Improve it without changing my voice: clearer, better rhythm, no mistakes. And tell me three things to learn for next time.
• Rehearse something scary: I'm going to [an interview / speak in class / ask for something important]. Coach me: roleplay it with me, throw realistic objections at me, and give me honest feedback at the end.
• Defend against disinformation: Here's something I saw on social media: [text]. Help me work out if it's reliable: what it claims, what evidence it shows, what's missing and how I'd check it myself.
• A community project: I want to do something useful for [my neighbourhood / a cause I care about]. Suggest three small, realistic projects for a teen, and a concrete first step for the easiest one.
• Organise the term's studying: These are my subjects and exam dates: [list]. Put together a realistic weekly study plan, with breaks, that I can actually stick to.

5. The Master Prompt for parents

If you only keep one prompt from the whole book, make it this one. It works for almost any project with a child, at any age.

• The Master Prompt: You are a patient, creative teacher and an expert at learning with AI. I have a [age]-year-old called [name] who wants to [child's idea]. Guide me step by step so they are the main creator and you are only the assistant. First, ask me the questions I should put to the child so they make the creative decisions. Then, give me the exact prompts I'll use with the AI at each step.
• Homework version (avoids the trap): My [age]-year-old has to do [task]. Don't do it for them. Ask them questions that help them think and reach the answer themselves, and let me know if at any point they're asking you to do it for them instead of learning it.

6. School and studies

• Explain at their level: Explain [topic] to me as if I were [age or year group], with a real-life example. Then ask me a question to check I got it.
• Summarise something huge: Summarise this [text / video / PDF] in five to seven key points and highlight the one thing I shouldn't forget for an exam.
• Study cards in three levels: Make study cards on [topic] in three levels: easy, medium, hard. Question on the front, answer on the back.
• Generate a practice exam: Make me a practice exam in [subject] on [topics], with 10 varied questions. Don't give me the answers until I send mine for marking.
• A presentation that lands: Help me structure a [10]-minute talk on [topic] for [audience], slide by slide, one idea per slide and a memorable close.
• Nail a written assignment: Help me plan an essay on [topic]: outline, what goes in each part and the questions I should research myself. Don't write it for me — help me write it.
• Learn a language daily: I'm [level] in [language]. Chat with me for 10 minutes a day about [an everyday topic], correct me gently and teach me three new words each time.
• Learn a new tool: Teach me how to [make a pivot table in Excel / use this program], step by step, like a complete beginner, with a simple exercise to practice.
• Improve spelling: I want to improve my spelling. Every day give me three sentences with a typical mistake to spot, correct me, and explain the rule in one line.
• Prepare an oral presentation: Help me prepare a [length] oral presentation on [topic]: script, opening and closing lines, and three tips for not getting nervous.
• Crack a stubborn problem: I don't get this [maths / physics] problem: [paste it]. Don't give me the solution: guide me with questions, step by step, until I solve it myself.
• A realistic study plan: I have an exam in [subject] in [days] and these topics: [list]. Make me a realistic daily plan, with revision and breaks, that I can actually follow.

7. To create and enjoy

A heads-up: the day you hear your first song, made by you and about something of yours, you get a lump in your throat. Start here.

• Your first song: [In a music tool like Suno] An emotional song about [my mother, who's turning 70], in [soft pop] style, mentioning [a specific shared memory].
• An image that never existed: Create an image of [whatever you imagine, with as much detail as possible], in [watercolour / photoreal / illustration] style.
• Your first story: I want to write [a short story / my memoirs / a wedding speech]. Ask me questions to pull out my ideas and memories, then help me shape them in my own voice.
• A poem for someone: Help me write a simple, heartfelt poem for [person] about [what they mean to me]. It should sound like me, not overwrought.
• A one-of-a-kind gift: Help me create a personal gift for [person]: pick between a poem, an image or a song about [a shared memory], and make it with me step by step.
• A script for a memory video: I'm going to put together a memory video of [a trip / a year / a person]. Help me with the script, the order of the moments and an emotional text for the end.
• Your business idea, step by step: I have a business or product idea: [describe it]. Help me develop it step by step: who it serves, how to test it cheaply, and what my first move would be.
• Design a digital product to sell: I want to create a [template pack / guide / illustration set] about [topic] to sell. Help me define it, name it, and describe how I'd present it.
• Your logo or personal brand: Help me create the identity of [my project]: name, slogan, values and a simple logo description to generate it. Ask me questions before suggesting anything.
• Redecorate or revamp a room: I want to redo [room] on a small budget. Here's what it looks like: [details]. Give me three style ideas, a colour palette and a list of cheap changes.
• A little family game: Invent a simple board or card game to play with the family with kids aged [ages], about [topic]. Give me clear rules and which household materials we need.
• Write the book inside you: I want to write a book about [topic or story]. Help me define who it's for, the chapter outline, and write the first chapter with me. Slow, chapter by chapter.

8. For your wellbeing and your head

Honest note: AI is not a therapist or a doctor. For something that really weighs on you, look for a professional or someone you trust. These prompts help to sort thoughts and reflect, not to treat anything serious.

• Sort out your head: I'll tell you, jumbled, what's worrying me: [let it out]. Help me put it in order and separate what I can change from what I can't.
• See it differently: I tend to think [a thought that drags me down]. Give me three fairer, more realistic ways to look at the same thing, without fake positivity.
• A plan without stress: I want to [goal]. Make me a small, realistic plan to start this week, in tiny steps, without overwhelm.
• A tiny habit: I want to build the habit of [X]. Suggest a first step so small it's almost impossible not to do, and how to anchor it to something I already do.
• Close the day well: Every evening, ask me three short questions to reflect on my day and keep something good from it.
• Make a hard decision: I have to decide between [A] and [B]. Ask me five questions to help me decide calmly, without deciding for me.
• A letter from your future self: Write a kind, sincere letter from my self ten years from now to my today's self, who is [situation]. With warmth and perspective.

9. Advanced prompts (once you're at home with it)

• A custom assistant: I want a permanent assistant for [writing my work emails / planning my weeks]. Ask me about my style, my quirks and my needs, and propose instructions I can save and reuse forever.
• A multi-step workflow: Help me build a repeatable process for [turning my notes into a report / preparing a class]. Break it into numbered steps, telling me what I give you at each one and what you give back.
• A content system: I want a system to publish about [topic] without burning out. Design me a flow: where I get ideas from, how I turn them into posts, and a realistic calendar of [times per week].
• Analyse your own data: Here's a table of [my expenses / my sales / my hours]: [paste or describe]. Find the three most useful things I should see, and a practical recommendation.
• Prep a negotiation thoroughly: I'm going to negotiate [topic] with [who]. Help me prepare: my objectives, my acceptable minimum, their likely objections, and a calm reply to each one.
• Your own "second brain": I want to organise everything I'm learning about [topic]. Suggest a simple way to store it and ask you for summaries and connections when I need them.
• A business plan in one session: I have this idea: [describe it]. Be my consultant: customers, value proposition, how to test it cheaply in 30 days and the three numbers I should watch.
• Automate your repetitive work: At work I repeat [these tasks] every week. Help me identify which I can automate or speed up with AI, ordered from easiest, and where to start.
• Learn to code by building something real: I want to make [a small website / a simple app / a script] that does [this], and I can't code. Walk me through it step by step with [Claude Code / Cursor], explaining just enough at each step that I get it.

A · The dictionary without fear

Artificial intelligence (AI)

Software that learns from huge amounts of examples and, from there, writes, draws, answers or decides — imitating skills we used to think only humans had.

Model

The trained "brain" behind an AI. ChatGPT, Claude or Grok are the products; the model is what thinks inside.

Chatbot

An AI you talk to, in writing or out loud, like a messaging conversation.

Prompt

What you ask or write to the machine. The clearer and more concrete, the better the answer (the recipe is in Appendix C).

Token

The little chunk the machine breaks text into to process it — roughly a syllable or a short word. You just need to know it exists.

Hallucination

When the AI invents something and tells you with total confidence. That's why the things that matter always get double-checked.

Agent

An AI that doesn't just reply but does tasks on its own, step by step, towards a goal — even while you're not watching.

AGI

Short for "artificial general intelligence": a machine able to do almost any mental task a human can. It doesn't exist yet; it's the goal the big labs are chasing.

Multimodal

Understands and creates in several formats at once: text, images, voice, audio and video.

GPT / LLM

Technical names for the kind of model behind today's chatbots ("large language model"). The name doesn't matter; you already know what it does.

Training

Teaching a model by letting it read gigantic amounts of text and images until it picks up the patterns.

Bias

The slants and blind spots the machine inherits from its data and from whoever tuned it. That's why it isn't a neutral oracle.

Deepfake

A fake photo, voice or video produced by AI that looks completely real. The reason to teach your kids to question what they see.

Open source

Models anyone can download and use freely, as opposed to those owned privately by a company.

Local AI

An AI that runs entirely on your own computer, so your data never leaves the house (we covered it in Appendix F).

The cloud

Very powerful computers belonging to some company, which you connect to over the internet. Almost every AI you use lives there.

Context window

How much the machine can "hold in its head" at once in a conversation. If it gets very long, it starts forgetting the beginning.

Voice clone

An AI-made imitation of someone's voice. Wonderful for creating, dangerous in the hands of a scammer.

• Big tech together spends more than 600 billion dollars in a single year (2026) just to build the needed infrastructure. IEEE ComSoc / Fortune, 2026
• ChatGPT, Claude, Grok and their peers process more than two billion messages every single day. ChatGPT alone reached 2.5 billion per day in 2025. TechCrunch, 2025
• An AI solved a biological problem science had failed at for over half a century: predicting how almost all known proteins fold. Its creators won the Nobel Prize (AlphaFold). Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024, nobelprize.org
• Maor Shlomo built Base44 practically alone and sold it about six months after launch for 80 million dollars to Wix. TechCrunch, June 2025
• The likely largest IPO in history: SpaceX, having absorbed the AI company behind Grok (xAI), filed to list at around 1.75 trillion dollars, roughly the triple of the previous record. CNBC, 2026
• Augustus, described as the first clearing bank built for the AI era, received conditional approval from the US regulator (OCC) in May 2026. PR Newswire, May 2026
• Data centers in orbit: solar-powered AI chips in space, cooled by the cold of the void (Google Project Suncatcher, Starcloud). Data Center Dynamics, 2025
• One person, working alone, runs a business selling AI-generated portraits and earns millions a year (Pieter Levels, PhotoAI). Indie Hackers, 2025