My Kids Introduced Me to ChatGPT.
For anyone who may not know by now, ChatGPT is an artificial-intelligence chatbot developed by AI research company OpenAI, and released in November 2022.
If I said I couldn’t wait to try it, that would not be the whole truth because what is also true is that I was a little reluctant to go down this rabbit hole.
I believe it was Einstein who said that we shouldn’t have anything in our brains that doesn’t need to be there. I live by that, so Google is already my ever-present auxiliary brain, where I can go to fetch information that is stored there anytime I feel the information itch.
A professor once told me I had “epistemic hunger,” which I promptly googled because I did not know what “epistemic hunger” meant.
That professor got me right. My urge to learn is insatiable. But what will become of me, I wondered, with ChatGPT in my life.
Where is this AI thing going? What will it mean for me, and for us? A lot of people are wondering and worrying about exactly that.
Common Concerns About ChatGPT
I tried to ask ChatGPT for a list of concerns about ChatGPT, but Bot told me it was too busy for my question. Maybe Bot is smart enough to know my question before I even ask it and just didn’t like the question. Just kidding, I think.
Anyway, there is always Google, and Google gave me the short list below from Bloomberg:
Accuracy: AI has been trained on data sets available through 2021.
Inherent Bias: AI depends on the data it is trained on and the humans who select the data.
Privacy and Confidentiality: Users could share confidential information with ChatGPT, or receive and use protected information from ChatGPT without realizing it.
So, I check everything for accuracy myself, and hope that my sharing and using discretion will serve me well—because so far, I really love Bot and here is why.
Why I Love Bot So Far
To give you a flavor for our ‘relationship’, here below are a couple of examples.
- “All We Like Sheep” popped into my head as a great subtitle for an article I am writing. And, I wanted to know if I understood how it is commonly used before I used it.
So, I asked Bot what it meant, and if Bot ‘thought’ my understanding and intention were correct. Bot told me it was biblical and not appropriate for my purposes.
We went back and forth a few times, each hearing out the other’s point of view. Bot, polite throughout, nonetheless stood firm in its position that my usage would be inappropriate—until I clarified that I was using it metaphorically.
After that, Bot said something like ‘Oh now I understand, thank you for clarifying. Yes, that would work’.
- A magazine for CEO’s recently published an article I wrote. Now I want to use some of my ideas and content from that article to write one tailored to MDs.
Understanding fully that Bot is not an attorney, still I am finding Bot so helpful, I figured I’d run it by Bot anyway to see what it thinks.
Bot told me that I could either rewrite the content and use different references for the material, or I could contact the editor of the magazine for permission. Bot went on to say that it really recommended the latter just to be safe.
Of course, Bot was right, so with its encouragement and support, I contacted the editor—who is an attorney—and she said, “Sure.”
What a guy, or gal, or whatever Bot is or isn’t. So helpful. So supportive. Just the kind of communication we dream about with others.
Here is a link from an earlier post I wrote on couple’s conflict and communication. Check it out and you will see how well my chats with ChatGPT follow these best practice guidelines.
Bot is like a new mentor. And, as I’ve already heard from one wise friend that he is jealous of my new relationship with Bot, I expect my main mentor of over 20 years will complain as well when he reads this. Or maybe he will be happy for me? We will see. 😉
He would also want me to be careful with my boundaries, and of course i will, as with any relationship, until we know a little more about who or what this Bot is.
To talk about this or something else, do contact me at https://madelaineweiss.com
And do let us know how things are going for ChatGPT and you!
Warmly,
Madelaine
Image by Freepik
About the Author: Madelaine Weiss
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