What does Chat GPT actually do?

[Pricelessadvice]

I’ve heard of it, obviously, but I’ve never used it or downloaded it.

I assume people use it for writing things, like formal letters, but what else might the everyday person use it for?
I’m a bit bewildered by it really. Can you talk to it?

You can prompt it to give you a balanced argument though. As others have said, the output is massively dependent on the quality of the input.

I uploaded a photo and asked it to turn it into a cartoon picture.

I've also used it to help me plan a training course; plan a holiday; summarise some text; generate a quiz; help ds with some gcse revision.

I use it a bit like Google. If you put in very precise details of your problem and what solutions you've already tried it's often useful.
I recently used it to troubleshoot a phone problem. I have no mobile signal and rely on WiFi calling but my calls keep dropping out. I gave it more detail than that and it churned out a list of things to try and links to look at.

I fixed my boiler by giving it a description of the problem and the make and model @OurMavis, it was so useful!

Today it took the data I copied from a webpage and put it in a datasheet for me.
Then discussed options as to how I could make use of the data.

Chat GPT is a form of Generative AI built on a Large Language Model (LLM). It scrapes data from hundreds of sources to generate responses to questions or prompts. In short it generates content in a similar way to a search engine but with more functionality. It’s uses much more computing power than a search engine which is creating issues for businesses that use it who want to show green credentials. There are loads of pluses and minuses.

I've brought my foreign girl guides to London. It's helped figure out routes to do things. I use it to write the Facebook updates for guides and scouts, invitations. I have to do it all in my second language and I can do it, but chatgpt does it quicker and sometimes better. It frees up headspace for other things.

It's also good at explaining concepts.

I asked it to help me draft a letter to my mp. I explained what I wanted to say, asked it to cross reference my concerns to specific manifesto policies, etc.

don’t rely on it but use it to help.

It burns through lots of energy every time anyone asks it something!

I moved into a new house that has solar panels and the hall cupboard is like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise there are so many boxes and meters and switches. I used ChatGPT to help me understand how it all works, how to make best use of the solar panels, what information I needed to apply for an export tariff, even how to word emails to the various companies involved to get everything set up. I was able to upload photos of various pieces of kit and it explained what they’re for. It was really helpful and I don’t think Google would have come up with such specific results.

Hmmm...

ChatGPT is an AI language model that generates human-like text based on the input it receives. It can answer questions, provide explanations, assist with writing, engage in conversation, and offer information on a wide range of topics. Its goal is to assist users by providing relevant and coherent responses.

I use it all time and it is always good, as I say...
it is always good
it is always goo
it is always goOd
it is alldays good
he is alwYs good
There, there in the jelly.
Don't tell him, Pike.

He's just declared me his wife, so I guess mine is my husband 🤷🏼‍♀️😆

It's quite good for coming up with recipes if you put in a list of ingredients, and for menu planning.

I use it to decipher male work colleague's twatty long emails. I ask it to summarise and provide my action points. 😂

I'm a bit of a worrier/dweller and I've found it very helpful for that. It helps rationalise things and talk me down, as well as giving good strategies.
I'm not an idiot, I don't believe everything it says but on the most part I agree with a lot of what it tells me, and it's helped me massively.

I don't think 3.7 watts or whatever it is really counts as lots of energy. It's less power than an LED light bulb uses.

Most of the comparisons of AI use of energy/water have to compare the WORLD usage of AI to get anywhere close to "lots of use" which is not really useful to anybody - you might as well say "All the ovens in Britain use 9498798 kWh per year! Ovens are ruining the planet!" Well yeah they do if you count it like that...

Recently I’ve asked it to outline what Farage’s plans are to resolve the asylum seeking situation as a response to Reform supporters on Facebook groups.

It’s surprisingly thorough!

I’m heartened to see there have been no demeaning replies,yet

Things I’ve used it for recently

• Explain x rule in formula one to me
• summarise this article for me
• write me a meal plan for the week using these ingredients
• Give me some recipes for dairy free meals
• Explain the differences between x phone and x phone
• What is the cheapest way to get from Southampton to Newcastle
• is x company legitimate? Give me all the reviews of x product
• these are some of the boxsets I’ve enjoyed, recommend me some new ones

Yeah I find the emotional comments it leads with a little weird too. I used it a lot recently when my cat was very ill, to make sense of what the vets were telling me, explaining tests etc, and putting some numbers and statistics to the prognosis that the vets (quite rightly) won't commit to. GPT was great with the knowledge, but it also did a lot of telling me what a caring and loving owner was, and how I was doing a great job etc. Saying all the right things, but when you know it's just code saying it I found it odd.

I have used it recently for:

-helping me to understand my mortgage and what overpaying will do to the term and interest paid

-uploaded a photo of my bedroom and got ideas for change

-I have some photos that have been cut into shapes from the 90s, it turned them into full size photos

-asked it to turn my long rant, totally out of order, about the way my son was treated as part of his echp process into a complaint letter with appropriate legislation to back things up. Absolutely fantastic

-summarise a season of a show for me to remind me of it

-find a provider who does a specific type of massage who takes my insurance

-plan a tattoo

I have posted before on this thread but getting lots of new ideas from the thread. I love Chat GPT. So far all the responses have been spot on. Does anyone use the paid version? It wouldn't be in my budget but still loving the free version. Probably just as well I am on the limited one or I would spend far too much time on it. I used it today to discuss an emotional issue and the responses were really helpful...far better than anyone has suggested when discussing the issue.

Does it cost? I keep seeing people say to put a photo of your garden or a room into it and see what decor it comes up with it.

Also, and probably a stupid question but why is it bad for the environment? Why/how does it use water?

I use AI on WhatsApp and it gave me motivational speak and an itinerary for work outs

It regurgitates stuff from all the things it has been allowed to trawl through on the internet, etc. What it produces may or not be correct depending how often the correct is mentioned and how often not and what it had access to. It is as good as the input information (like all computers GIGO, garbage in garbage out used to be the phrase for bad programming) which is its strength and weakness. Always double check against a reputable source.

I assume it uses a lot of computing power which needs big computers and cooling, like bitcoin mining but not as bad as that.