A beginners guide: start using ChatGPT right now.

ChatGPT is a tool we can all use right now. But what is it and what does it mean for society?

January 12, 2023

I found out about ChatGPT two weeks ago while scrolling through Twitter. People were Tweeting about asking it various questions which sounded interesting. Then, just in the last week there has been a torrent of Tweets and YouTube videos boasting:

“How to become a millionaire using ChatGPT”

“How ChatGPT will change the world”

“ChatGPT is the end of all jobs”

So, I thought I should have a go with this tool and see what all the fuss was about. Launched in November 2022 by OpenAI it has since been valued at $29 billion. It appears the market really values what they are building here!

Using Google Trends, it’s clear that I was a couple of weeks late to this trend. Not bad for me then! The blue line shows searches for ChatGPT (blue line) increase from the first week in December 2022 with a parallel increase in searches for AI (red line). So, all in all, this is a very new tool that the world is only really getting to grips with.

So what is ChatGPT?

In its own words….(well, why not just ask it!):

What are you and how did you learn?

“I am a computer program designed to process and analyse large amounts of natural language data, and to use that information to assist with tasks such as answering questions and providing information. I was trained using a machine learning technique called unsupervised learning, which involves exposing the model to a large dataset and allowing it to learn on its own by identifying patterns and structures in the data. During the training process, the model was not given any explicit instructions or labels; instead, it was simply shown the data and left to discover the relationships and patterns within it. This allowed the model to learn how to process and understand language in a way that is similar to how humans do.”

And what can you do?

“As a large language model, I have been trained to perform a wide range of tasks that involve understanding and generating natural language. This includes tasks such as answering questions, providing information, summarizing text, and even generating original text. I can carry on conversations with people and assist them with various tasks and questions they might have. For example, you can ask me about a particular topic, and I will do my best to provide accurate and relevant information. I can also help you with language-related tasks, such as proofreading or generating text for a specific purpose.”

So let’s try this out. Over the weekend I had a go with my kids. We threw lots different questions at it, just to see what it would do! We came up with some hilarious combinations for stories including cave men using mobile phones and some crazy things that happened to our next door neighbour (I don’t think they read this 😀).

To show you the power of this tool check this one out….

Write a 3 paragraph story about a newsletter that was so bad that everyone thought the author had completely lost their mind.

“It was a typical Monday morning when the latest edition of the company newsletter arrived in everyone's inbox. As the employees began to read through it, they were shocked by the bizarre and rambling content. It seemed as though the author had completely lost their mind.

The newsletter was filled with nonsensical ramblings and unrelated stories, and it was clear that no effort had been put into editing or proofreading. The layout was chaotic and difficult to follow, and there were numerous spelling and grammatical errors throughout.

As word of the disastrous newsletter spread throughout the office, people began to speculate about what could have caused such a drastic decline in quality. Some suspected that the author was under a great deal of stress, while others thought they might be experiencing some sort of personal crisis. Whatever the cause, it was clear that something needed to be done to get the newsletter back on track before it completely lost all credibility.”

Not bad at all!

So here’s how you can use ChatGPT right now

Open this link.

That will bring you to a sign up screen. It will ask you for some information and then you will be asked to verify your email address. And that’s it. You’re away.

You will then see this screen in your browser where you can ask questions to your hearts content!

I actually used it to help me at work!

Since playing with the tool at the weekend I wondered if I could use it at work. Could I find a use case that would make my job a little easier on a cold wet Monday morning.

After doing a few experiments I found it. I needed to create a job description. I had out aside two hours to write this thing and send it off for review. This was a pretty tight deadline to get his done.

ChatGPT came to my rescue. I asked it to “write a job description for a data analyst position”.

Bang.

It trotted off a basic structure for the job description. I took what it suggested and enhanced it with specific points about my company and what we are planning for the role. Job done in about 30 mins. Over an hour saved on that task and it’s nicely structured with all the details needed.

So, maybe this is the future. We can use AI such as this to help us get to better answers quicker. The power of the assistant plus my human brain working together got me to a better answer and saved me time.

But we need to have our eyes open

This appears to be a rabbit hole that we are well and truly going down whether we like it or not. So, it’s going to need us to be vigilant, even in the short term with this beta version.

  • What happens when a student submits an exam question to ChatGPT and then uses that answer in their work?

  • If you’re a teacher, do you have the tools available to tell whether a student has used ChatGPT to write an essay or dissertation? Is it ok to use ChatGPT to assist?

  • When you read a LinkedIn post, is it simply copy and pasted from ChatGPT? If you get value from it, does it even matter?

  • If ChatGPT can write and correct code, do you need to employ lots of expensive coding experts or simply a few analysts that have a basic understanding?

  • If you write copy for marketing campaigns or scripts for TV ads, are you ready for some upstart with ChatGPT to start trotting out amazing copywriting in half the time you can?

It could well be the case that we look back on 30th November 2022, when this version of ChatGPT was launched, as the day the world changed forever. It’s a totally amazing tool but it’s immensely powerful. I read this week that there was uproar when the tractor came along and replaced thousands of farm workers. This could be 1000 times bigger where many of our modern jobs are rendered useless over the next 5-10 years. If not sooner.

Think of this. Imagine a world where scientific progress is made 1000 times faster….

That could be where we’re heading.

Fortunes will be made. Fortunes will be lost.

Are you ready?

Conclusion

ChatGPT is a powerful and versatile tool that can be used by anyone, regardless of their level of technical expertise. Whether you're a business professional, a student, or simply someone looking for an easier way to get things done, ChatGPT can help you.

My conclusion is that this tool is incredible in how it forms text and takes small snippets of ideas and transforms them into something compelling. The power will be in the next iteration that is likely to be connected to the internet. That’s when the power could become a serious issue for society.

Give it a go and let me know in the comments below what you think.

If you’d like to learn more, check out this video.

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