What Is ChatGPT? It’s Insane!

You might remember that I made the promise to (usually) stick to stuff that’s relevant to your modern life. And here it is. An AI chatbot that interacts with you conversationally, providing answers to essentially anything. It’s named ChatGPT, and it’s basically insane. Have a look.

 

The Basics

The company making this thing is called OpenAI, an AI research laboratory which, as you might expect, is based in San Francisco and employs really smart people.

These smart people have devised a language prediction model called GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer), successive iterations of which are becoming scary good.

ChatGPT is based on GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 and uses something referred to as a large language model, which is fed ludicrous amounts of text and can then predict the next word in a sentence, the next sentence in a paragraph, and so on. This model is fine-tuned using machine learning techniques such as supervised learning and reinforcement learning.

The result is a chatbot that is freakishly versatile, capable of—among other things—answering questions, writing blog posts, coding, devising song lyrics, and providing music suggestions for those lyrics. It works best in English, but other languages are also supported.

Of course, accuracy and sensitivity cannot be guaranteed, with occasional offensive or nonsensical responses sneaking through.

Regardless, traditional search engines are officially on notice that the competition has arrived.

 

You Can Try It for Free

ChatGPT is available to the general public at no cost (although access to GPT-4 comes with a monthly fee).

Here’s a link.

All that’s required to use the tool is an email address (that requires verification) and a password.

Depending on your desired level of engagement, you can even give a thumbs up or thumbs down to a response and free text what you believe would be an ideal answer.

 

A Few Examples

Given the multi-purpose nature of this tool, I opted to use it for life advice. Below is what the chatbot told me regarding the most pressing questions I’m facing. You may have to zoom in on the screenshots.

 

Is Rochester, NY, a good place to live?

 

Is blogging a waste of time?

 

What’s better: Being a Blogger or a Doctor?

 

So whether you’re a doctor, a blogger, or both, now’s a good time to start looking for another job.