ChatGPT - A Complete Guide to the ChatGPT Website

A Nuts and Bolts Review of the Latest AI Sensation Sweeping the Globe

Artificial Intelligence used to be science fiction. Cinema and mainstream media have been exploring the idea of self-aware machines and human-like robots for decades, where on the one hand, intelligent machines are depicted as helpful and futuristic; on the other hand, the same machines are considered a threat to human jobs and life.

In the last decade or so, AI has come out of the sci-fi world and entered our daily routines. Today we see AI being used all around us. From chatbots helping customers to digital assistants and robotic helpers, science fiction is quickly becoming a science reality.

Admittedly the furore of AI and machine learning is still in its early days, and its use and awareness are still limited. All of this is about to change, though. For the first time in recent history, an open-source machine learning tool is available for the masses to use, explore, and enjoy. You guessed it; we are talking about ChatGPT.

So, power up your robotic butler, ask Alexa to play your jam, and let’s do this:

What the Heck is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is a chatbot, plain, and simple. But unlike your typical run-of-the-mill chatbot, this one is trained to engage you in human-like conversations. The software is a machine-learning tool that enables the bot to understand your typed questions and respond to them in a detailed manner, just like a real person would.

ChatGPT is a Natural language processing tool. This means that it is designed to process and respond to questions and inputs from users and uses the “Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3(GPT-3)” technology to provide responses naturally and conversationally.

How Does It Work?

ChatGPT works by receiving typed inputs from users that are sent to a chatbot. The chatbot was previously trained to understand human conversations by feeding real human chats and literature to the bot's machine-learning algorithm. Once the bot understands your question or comment, it then generates a text response that is structured and detailed to make you feel like you are chatting with a real person.

Who Are the Creators?

ChatGPT is the brainchild of Open AI, a company that prides itself on being an innovative, and state-of-the-art tech-solutions company, dedicated to bringing AI-based products to help better humanity. The company was founded in 2015 and is located in San Francisco, USA.

Originally co-owned by Elon Musk and Sam Altman. However, Musk resigned in 2018 but still contributes as an investor. Microsoft is one of the major investors in OpenAI, having invested more than $1 billion in 2019.

The OpenAI and Microsoft partnership has strengthened since then, and currently, in 2023, Microsoft is looking to integrate ChatGPT technology into their Microsoft Office suite, which is a major development to look out for.

Is ChatGPT a Search Engine Like Google?

Initially, it was speculated that ChatGPT was created to take out mainstream search engines like Google. However, ChatGPT is not a search engine; instead, it is something far more sophisticated.

Unlike a typical search engine providing you with links and information, ChatGPT finds and answers your questions in a detailed and natural manner, without you having to search multiple pages to find out what you need. Going forward, mainstream search engines would seem to integrate and benefit from this AI breakthrough rather than be threatened by it.

What Can ChatGPT Do For You?

Since the ChatGPT was trained on content and conversations created by human authors, its responses are human-like, but since there is no fact-checking mechanism, the information provided by it may be inaccurate and misleading at times.

Despite this, the capabilities of ChatGPT are pretty versatile. The tool can help you compose music, write and debug code, and also help you write text or extract information from a written matter. You can also brainstorm ideas and evaluate concepts with ChatGPT.

Here are some of the key things you can do with ChatGPT:

• Write and Debug Code - The bot can help you write code; all you have to do is pick a language or describe the programming problem you’d like to solve. It also supports the debugging and code-writing feature for a large number of programming and web-development languages such as C++, Javascript, and more.

• Define and Explain Concepts - The software can teach a variety of topics from many subjects like biology, history, literature, and mathematics, all you need to do is pop in a problem, and you will get a detailed line-by-line solution or explanation provided by the AI.

• Create Content - It can help in writing innovative scripts, essays, and conversational dialogues without the fear of plagiarism. Although the content does have a redundant robotic feel at times, it can still save you time and effort when you need to write a project or an article, and you are short on time and just don’t have the brain cells to get it done yourself.

What are the Limitations of ChatGPT?

You cannot have too much of a good thing. Of course, everything has limitations and ChatGPT comes with the following:

• Lack of Fact-Checking - There is no fact-checking capability, and the chatbot often makes up information based on its predictions. The scary bit is that these unfactual statements are presented in a believable way, which may result in the spreading of misinformation and false facts.

• Redundant Language - AI written content is easy to recognize due to its redundancy and lack of figurative language. In addition, such content is not reliable since no matter how structured it is, it may just be filled with completely useless information, making it easy to differentiate between human and machine-written content.

• Lack of Experience - It may not have all the answers and can potentially get stumped by unconventionally worded questions. It is a common limitation of AI that it cannot anticipate all instances of human styles of questioning. So, you might not get any answers if you ask in an unconventional way.

How Much Does ChatGPT Cost?

As mentioned earlier, ChatGPT is open-source, so basically free. The only criterion is that the user needs to be an adult, i.e., eighteen or older. On February 1st, 2023, it was announced that a new paid feature called “ChatGPT Plus” was made available for US users for just $20 per month. With ChatGPT Plus, you get faster response times and uninterrupted access to the AI, even during rush hours.

In addition, there are a few extra features for paying customers, like instant upgrades and unlaunched feature testing. This paid service has been announced only in the US as of yet, however, its expansion to other countries is in the pipeline.

ChatGPT; Yay Or Nay?

All in all, ChatGPT is a great tool to help you quickly find answers, debug code, compose some music, create some instant jokes, and write that essay you’ve been procrastinating over.

However, the technology is still in its early developmental stages. There are severe limitations and serious concerns, such as user data safety and the bot-generated information not running through any fact-checking system, which adds to the risk factor(s).

This is a charming tool and a big step in the development of AI for sure; however, as this technology matures and the limitations are reduced, who knows? Someday our kids may be reading this article and laughing about it!

We recommend you checkout ChatGPT and take advantage of its free subscription. As always, we will see you in the next article, Toodles!