We’re so used to having technology change the way we do things that it can be easy to approach an innovation like OpenAI’s ChatGPT with a shrug of your shoulders. Same old, same old for the 21st century. However, like moving from a record player to an eight track, from an eight track to cassette, from cassette to CD, and from CD to streamed mp3s, if you don’t keep up, you’ll miss out on some really cool innovations and, quite possibly, get left behind.
What is ChatGPT?
Let’s start with the basics. From the “mouth” of ChatGPT itself, it is “an advanced AI language model capable of processing and understanding natural language. Therefore, ChatGPT can be used to automate various language-based processes, making them more efficient and accurate.”
If you’ve ever “Googled” a question and couldn’t figure out how to change the prompt enough to find the resources you needed (and haven’t we all?), then you might be blown away by ChatGPT’s responsiveness.
Within the ChatGPT platform, you can ask the AI language model anything you’d like, but it is best suited for answering open-ended questions that are clear and specific and use simple, concise language. You can also set the scene for the question by giving the language model background information to better understand the question.
Context is everything to ChatGPT. If you don’t get a specific enough answer, you can adjust your question to try to get a different response. Unlike traditional “Googling,” you will get a different response with every change you make to your question, just like you would if you were having a conversation with a friend and you gave them more scope and context about a topic. In that regard, ChatGPT is thrilling and impressive.
Uses for AI Language Models
AI language models like ChatGPT and Google Bard bring up plenty of questions about the future, and they’re worth investigating if you want to keep up with the times. They have the potential to be extremely useful for both businesses and individuals.
A Business Perspective
For businesses, the most obvious use is customer service since people rarely call in anywhere for customer service and directly speak to a human being. Because the AI language models “speak” so naturally, this translates into at least one key benefit for customer-facing businesses: more efficient customer support that feels much more authentic.
Even if you know that the “person” you are speaking with is no person at all, the language isn’t stilted and robotic, so you will probably feel much better listening to or reading what the AI customer service representative has to say even as you repeatedly dictate into the phone, “CUS-TO-MER SER-VICE REP-RE-SEN-TA-TIVE” while waiting to speak to an actual human being.
However, because the AI language models do a much better job of understanding more complex language (that is their job, after all), you might be able to avoid speaking to a representative – hence, the efficiency aspect. In fact, you might find that you prefer the politely efficient AI language model over the possibility of reaching a potentially snarky human being.
An Individual’s Perspective
For the average person going about their daily life, using an AI language model like ChatGPT will look a little different. You will be able to use it as a personal assistant who sets up reminders for a task or who answer any variety of questions. Think Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple’s Siri after they earned their PhDs in every challenging program available to them. Now, subtract any pretentious language and add a dash of your grandmother’s humility and charm, and you’ve got a good idea of the potential of models like ChatGPT as a personal assistant.
You can also improve your language skills using ChatGPT and other AI language models. We’re talking about your first language as well as any additional languages that you’ve learned or are attempting to learn. Because ChatGPT’s language is so natural and fluent, it’s great practice to converse in whatever language you choose. On top of that, you can carefully construct prompts that result in language lessons tailored to your goals, needs, and learning style. That’s pretty direct, individualized instruction!
Finally, individuals can use AI language models to generate personalized jokes, games, or stories. This use might seem a little silly, but if you’re looking for a great joke or story about a specific topic to impress your colleagues, friends, or family, you might find yourself enjoying the process of developing the right prompt for a good laugh. Having ChatGPT write a story tailored for your own needs, tastes, and style preferences can provide you with a lot of entertainment, and asking it to create a game for your family members or friends to play, specifically tailored to everyone’s interests could end up being impressively entertaining.
Warnings
ChatGPT itself provides some important warnings about its limitation, and these are important realistic considerations for individuals to keep in mind before they get too involved in the language model.
- 1.) Biases: The AI language model contains biases and admits to this if you ask about it. This can lead to biased information being spread and taken as fact. Because it doesn’t do a good job citing its sources and often gets them wrong when asked, this warning is key. It’s important to read information provided by ChatGPT with this important factor in mind.
- 2.) Misuse: ChatGPT could be manipulated to appear as human because it so closely resembles human speech. From fake news to general disinformation, it can all easily be spread using AI language models, leading to an unknown amount of dangerously negative consequences, especially when people blindly take it at its word.
- 3.) Security: If people provide ChatGPT with sensitive data, then the model has that sensitive data. That means it’s essential that no one provides ChatGPT or any AI language model with personal information or trade secrets that they aren’t willing to share with the world.
In Conclusion
Overall, ChatGPT and other AI language models like Google Bard can be an amazing addition to your work and personal life as long as they’re used carefully and appropriately. Rather than feeling afraid of the updated technology, exploring it can wipe out the fear and provide you with as many hours of fun as you have to spend.
At Washington Technical Institute, we are excited about the possibilities that ChatGPT offers, and we look forward to exploring them further in the future. Keep an eye out for future blog posts where we will discuss how to effectively use ChatGPT in various settings.
Washington Technical Institute
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