#2 AI Basics

AI Basics for Folks Who Want to Give it a Try

Sean Ryan

Jun 02, 2023

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In This Issue

Dive in to AI
Giving AI a Try (don’t worry, it’s easy)
A Few Caveats
Fun Stuff

Dive in to AI

A PEW Research study shows that while 58% of US adults have heard of ChatGPT; only 14% have tried it (19/Mar/2023)

This is a shame! ChatGPT is a useful tool that we use here at AI Untangled everyday.

Here is the good news - it’s easy to get and easy to use. If you have an iPhone, you can download the application. Just search for “ChatGPT“ in the iPhone App Store. If you are reading this on your phone, you can simply Click Here.

You can also use it in a browser on your computer. Click Here to signup for a free account.

Giving AI a Try

ChatGPT is a little different than anything you may have used in the past. At first, it feels a little like a search engine, but instead of giving you links, it attempts to answer your questions.

But don’t be fooled, ChatGPT is a much more powerful tool. It can write essays and poems. It can proofread your writing. It can even recommend a recipe if you give it a few of the ingredients in your fridge!

Here is one useful example:

In later posts we will spend time discussing all of the different ChatGPT “skills“ and how to get the most out it using something called “prompts.“

For now, I recommend just giving it a try...

A Few Caveats

ChatGPT is a powerful tool. However, like all new technologies, it’s not perfect.

Here are two things to be aware of as you use ChatGPT:

It makes mistakes. On occasion, it provides erroneous information. This is sometimes called a “hallucination.” If you are relying on it for an important task, it makes sense to double check the answers it gives you. This problem is becoming less and less of an issue, but it remains.
It does not know current events. ChatGPT was trained on an immense amount of information that was taken from online sources. But the information was taken in September of 2021.

ProTip: You can access the more advanced ChatGPT, GPT-4, by upgrading to the “Pro“ version for $20 per month. This version is a vast improvement on the free version and it makes fewer errors.