ChatGPT: How to Use the AI Tool That's Changing Everything | Digital
ChatGPT has continued to impress the internet with AI-generated content, transforming from a simple chatbot into a technology that is driving the next era of innovation. Here’s what you need to know about ChatGPT, how to use it, and how it could change the future of the internet.
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is a natural language AI chatbot that generates answers to any question you ask. Unlike simple voice assistants like Siri or Google Assistant, ChatGPT is built on what is called an LLM (Large Language Model). These neural networks are trained on massive amounts of information from the internet for deep learning — meaning they generate altogether new responses. In the case of the current version of ChatGPT, it’s based on the GPT-3.5 LLM.
The model behind ChatGPT was trained on a variety of web content including websites, books, social media, news articles, and more. It was fine-tuned using both supervised learning and RLHF (Reinforcement Learning From Human Feedback). This use of human AI trainers is really what makes ChatGPT stand out.
How to Use ChatGPT
Using the ChatGPT chatbot is simple. Start by going to chat.openai.com and set up a free account with OpenAI. Once you’re done, you’ll be able to use ChatGPT to receive information by typing in your text.
The key here is to be creative and see how your ChatGPT responds to different prompts. ChatGPT knows the context of previous questions you ask, so you can refine your questions from there rather than starting over fresh every time.
For example, starting with “Explain how the solar system was made” will give a more detailed result with more paragraphs than “How was the solar system made?” even though both inquiries will give fairly detailed results. Take it a step further by giving ChatGPT more guidance about style or tone, saying “Explain how the solar system was made as a middle school teacher.”
You also have the option for more specific inputting requests for an essay with a specific number of paragraphs or a Wikipedia page. You can ensure accuracy by inputting queries continuously until you close your browser or reset the thread to clear your previous requests.
Is it Safe to Use ChatGPT?
OpenAI has safeguards in place to “build a safe and beneficial artificial general intelligence.” Any questions that are hateful, sexist, racist, or discriminatory in any way are generally off-limits.
There is potential for ChatGPT to begin filling in gaps with incorrect data. OpenAI notes that these instances are rare, but AI “hallucinations” certainly do happen. The company also notes that ChatGPT currently has “limited knowledge of world events after 2021.”
Is ChatGPT Free?
Yes, the basic version of ChatGPT is completely free to use with no limit to how much you can use ChatGPT in a day, though there is a word and character limit for responses.
OpenAI also has a premium version of its chatbot, called ChatGPT Plus. It costs $20 a month but provides access even during peak times, faster responses, and first access to new features like GPT-4.
What Can You Do With ChatGPT?
The possibilities with ChatGPT are endless. You can use it to write a template blog post or blocks of code if you’re a programmer. You can also experiment with ChatGPT to see what it can and cannot do. Our writers have experimented with ChatGPT, attempting to see if it could handle holiday shopping or even properly interpret astrological makeup with limitations to what it could do while still being thoroughly impressed by the results.
ChatGPT is an amazing piece of tech that is worth trying out for yourself to see just what it’s capable of. Whether you think ChatGPT will lead to the destruction of the internet as we know it or not, the fun is in trying it out yourself.
