**I Turned My Hotel Key Card into a One-Tap Shortcut for ChatGPT - And Now I Use it Every Day**

As the holiday season approaches, you may find yourself rummaging through your wallet or purse in search of that old hotel key card, wondering what to do with it now that you're back home. Well, wonder no more! You can repurpose any NFC tag – including a plastic hotel key – to trigger iPhone automations. With the help of apps like ChatGPT and Gemini, this hack goes from clever to genuinely useful.

I took this concept and ran with it, setting up my hotel key card to launch my go-to AI assistant when I tap it to the back of my phone. It may sound complicated, but trust me – it's surprisingly simple, and I'm already using it to journal, brainstorm ideas, and trigger custom "focus" routines.

**How This NFC + AI Trick Actually Works**

Most people use their old hotel keys for one thing: unlocking hotel doors. But when you tap these cards to your iPhone, they become a portal to a world of possibilities. With the Shortcuts app on iPhones, you can turn those old cards into an AI productivity assistant in just a few steps.

Here's how it works:

* **Scan a tag**: Any NFC card – including a hotel key, sticker, or wristband – can be scanned by your iPhone. * **Assign a custom action**: Using the Shortcuts app, you can assign a specific task to each tag. Most people use this to play music or turn off lights. * **Add extra steps**: To take it further, I added steps that open a specific GPT I built for daily journaling, turn on do not disturb, and open Notion so I can expand ideas.

**3 Creative Ways to Use This with AI**

From traveling to going to arcades with my kids, I have a bunch of old NFC cards. If you don't, you can buy NFC cards on Amazon – they're pretty inexpensive. Here are three ways I'm using this hack:

* **Tap to Journal with ChatGPT**: I created a custom GPT called "Mind Dump" that lets me vent, reflect, and think out loud. One tap of the tag opens it instantly so I don't overthink it. * **Tap to Brainstorm New Content or Ideas**: I stuck a tag on my desk to open Gemini with a preset message: "Give me a list of all the trending AI stories in the last 24 hours." It's my creative sidekick every single morning! * **Tap to Launch a Full "Focus Mode"**: This version opens ChatGPT, logs the time, turns off notifications, and opens Notion. It's my personal productivity ritual – triggered by a card that used to just open hotel doors.

**The Future of NFC + AI**

As Apple continues to improve its Intelligence features, these routines could get even smarter. But for now, this DIY NFC + AI trick is the closest thing to tapping your way into a personal assistant with actual memory and brainpower.

Give it a try – it might just become your favorite $0 productivity upgrade!