What the Tech App of the Day: Goblin Tools
By JAMIE TUCKER Consumer Technology Reporter
AI, or artificial intelligence is in a lot of things these days and while you may be familiar with Chat GPT and Google Gemini, another generative AI tool is helping families with children on the autism spectrum.
Goblin Tools is a website and smartphone app that can help parents, children, and young adults when a chore or project is overwhelming.
It’s easy for a parent to tell a child to clean their room, but a simple chore can create more questions than answers for someone whose brain processes information differently. They may need more direct instructions on which steps they need to complete.
Goblin Tools breaks down chores and projects into step-by-step instructions for anyone needing more guidance.
Like, “clean your room”. Parents only have to type that into the Goblin’s Magic ToDo tool and tap a button for a checklist. Goblin creates a list of things that need to be done for the room to be cleaned. Items such as “pick up clothes and throw them in the hamper”, “organize loose items into bins or drawers”, “make your bed”, and so on.
You can probably see how those instructions are more easily managed by someone who gets distracted or overwhelmed.
The child or young adult can then mark steps as ‘done’ after finishing the task. If you need to break down a task even further, just tap the button again.
There’s an app for iPhone and Android. If a child has a computer or Kindle Fire Tablet, they can use the Goblin Tools website to see the steps and mark them complete.
It isn’t just for people on the spectrum. I’ve found it helpful for anything you’re doing for the first time and for people who are easily distracted.
Get everything together to prepare taxes, just enter that into the Magic ToDo tool to create a list of everything you need. Need to change the oil in your car? Do you want to create a YouTube video or blog post? Just enter the project into the Magic ToDo tool to see what you’ll need to do.
There are other Goblin tools in the app. If you’re sending someone a message or email, enter it in “The Judge” to detect tone. The Formalizer takes paragraphs and makes them more professional or more casual and checks for spelling errors.
I could spend a week breaking down a full description of everything Goblin Tools can do. It’s just 99 cents in the app stores which goes to fund development. You can use the website for free.
It’s a game-changer for families of a neurodivergent child or adult.
