By: Taylor Ford
Executive Editor
Introduction to Chat GPT
The older I get the less inclined I am to lean into what's trending on the internet. But needless to say, there may be an opportunity cost to not embracing the future, or even remaining on the sidelines so long that you have to catch up.
“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”
– John F. Kennedy
The mission of The Driven is to help equip you with the tools to live smarter, better lives. Today, I want to challenge you to lean into learning the basics of artificial intelligence-powered chatbots, specifically, Chat GPT. Launched in November of 2022, Chat GPT was the leader of AI chatbot tools and is truly a groundbreaking tool that is changing the way we communicate and create.
Whether you want to learn how to effectively incorporate it into your workflow, or maybe you want to understand its potential power so you can recognize and defend yourself from your competitors, students, clients, etc, who utilize it, keep reading to learn the knowledge you need to understand this revolutionary new tool.
What is Chat GPT?
Well, let's ask Chat GPT...
ChatGPT is a language model created by OpenAI that can have text-based conversations. It generates responses based on patterns in its training data, making it useful for tasks like answering questions and engaging in dialogue.
Not bad. When you ask questions to GPT, they are called "prompts." We'll get into the importance of prompts later, they are absolutely key to effectively using Chat GPT.
Believe it or not, some forms of Chat GPT are not connected to the current internet. Chat GPT's database essentially searches the vast data but has a cutoff version of September 2021. Starting in May 2023 paid users with the Plus version have access to live internet.
Why is it a Game-Changer?
Chat GPT is revolutionizing industries by automating tasks that require understanding and generating text, making it an invaluable tool for writers, educators, entrepreneurs, and engineers. Look at it like a digital assistant that can help research, create, and organize data based on your requests (prompts) that you ask. The tech world is incorporating the Chat GPT API into its applications to help improve its user's experience, as well.
Getting Started with Chat GPT
As we get started, I chose to write this guide using Chat GPT, but there are many other competing sites like Google's Bard or Bing's equivalent. So let's start by signing up for a free account.
There are paid versions but let's begin with signing up for a free version of Chat GPT. Getting started is simple: sign up for access, and you’re ready to start chatting with your new AI friend.
Understanding Chat GPT’s Features
Let’s explore what Chat GPT can do for you. You can use it for fun by asking it for recipe ideas, use it for work to ask it to brainstorm topics or write subject lines for emails, or even get it to review a blog you wrote. Chat GPT operates much like a text message conversation. To illustrate this comparison below, I asked it the prompt "who is the greatest basketball player of all time?"
Text Generation
Chat GPT can quickly produce coherent, contextually relevant text from helping you break free from writer's block with ideas to creative storytelling based on your prompts. Think of it this way, in the past, you may have gone to YouTube to ask a question like "how to get Excel to ______ with my data" or Google to ask a simple question like "Who is the greatest basketball player of all time?" The difference is time, and time is money.
Rather than doing the research yourself - watching a 5 minute video for the answer, or reading a long article stuffed with ads and popups, you're given the answer in seconds. And with GPT, it summarizes the information down to a few sentences, or more powerfully, a code you can copy and paste into Excel.
Customization Options
You can adjust the tone of voice, writing style, and other parameters of Chat GPT’s responses to suit your needs. For example:
Here's an example prompt asking a question with a tone: "Write a paragraph, with a friendly voice and informative tone, answering the question "What is the 18:6 diet?"
Here are some examples of Voice Tones:
Certainly! Here's the list of voice tones without examples:
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Formal
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Informal
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Authoritative
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Friendly
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Commanding
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Caring
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Energetic
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Sarcastic
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Professional
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Sympathetic
Certainly! Here's the revised list with an additional writing style:
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Narrative
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Descriptive
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Persuasive
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Argumentative
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Informative
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Creative
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Technical
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Academic
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Journalistic
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Expressive
You can ask it to pretend it's a world-renowned marketer and to craft a witty yet actionable line for an advertisement you're working on. The more specific you get, the better results you'll receive. Prompts are everything. What are prompts? Keep reading, they are critical to using Chat GPT effectively.
The Importance of Prompts
If you are brand new to GPT, or a daily user, the most crucial takeaway from reading this blog is to become an expert with prompts. You get what you give. When you're phrasing your prompt get specific and elaborate. You can adjust the tone, style, and other parameters of Chat GPT’s responses to suit your needs. Once it's done pumping out your request, you can ask it to revise whatever it just put out but with changes, you want to be incorporated or expanded upon. You can find websites dedicated to prompts and Google Chrome Plugins to help you master your prompts and optimize your outputs.
Practical Uses of Chat GPT
Wondering how you might use Chat GPT? Think of it this way, how many times a day do you ask yourself or get asked questions that you don't know the answer to, go to GPT. Alternatively, think of processes in your day that are tedious or cumbersome, and think critically if you can offload any of that workload to GPT.
Writing and Content Creation
Chat GPT can help brainstorm ideas, edit content, or even co-write a story with you. Remember, GPT is like an assistant, not a full-time editor you can copy and paste in its entirety. The style of output, generally speaking, can be pretty easily recognized as AI writing to the trained eye, not to mention concerns of potential plagiarism. Look at it as a way to help guide you along the journey to the final product, inspiring and assisting you to create better content, faster. For examples, here's a quick list of potential titles for a blog.
Write or Check Code
This may be one of the areas where I personally benefit the most from using GPT. Managing The Driven website I am constantly learning new ways to improve the user experience, sometimes through custom coded HTML and CSS solutions. The problem: I am not a coder. Then I learned about GPT, and I've essentially taught myself the basics of HTML coding and SEO optimization along the way. Full disclosure, it's not perfect, so never take the output as 100% trustworthy content or code.
It may blow your mind to hear this, but scattered throughout The Driven I've even made calculators and applications for blogs with assistance from Chat GPT. Like Coop's Creatine Calculator.
Business Applications
From drafting emails to generating reports, Chat GPT can save time and improve productivity in professional environments, too. The other day I had a set of data I wanted to evaluate to gain a better understanding of and find potential insights worth acting upon. I literally copy and pasted an Excel data sheet and asked it to find any statistically significant correlations. It did. I've asked it to help me compare supplement panels of Mdrive Products, It did, but initially not perfectly.
I've seen people request go-to-market business strategies for products, develop organized workflows for better content creation, and review press releases to effectively communicate brand initiatives. Keep an open mind and you'll find a use to incorporate into your day.
Excel Tips
I mentioned pasting some data from Excel into GPT, but you can also improve how you organize your data inside Excel by asking for solutions to tricky formulas as well. There are over 450 formulas available to use in Microsoft Excel, sometimes it's hard to remember what function or how to add it to your cell. Example:
What is the Excel Formula to calculate how many days are left in the year? It then responds with the formula to find the last day of the year and then a formula to show the current day of the year to subtract and in turn create a cell showing the days left in the year.
Security Concerns With Chat GPT
Considering the robust computing power of an AI Chatbot like GPT, you could also imagine the magnitude of damage it could due if I hacker utilized it through a backdoor on your computer or cell phone. NEVER download an app or use a site claiming to be Chat GPT unless it's directly related to the parent company Open AI.
Hackers have begun marketing fake Chat GPT applications that mimic the Open AI logo only to distribute malware onto your devices.
So as a general rule, never download any Chat GPT Apps, and only utilize the chatbot service directly from OpenAI's website.
Whatever you input becomes property of OpenAI. ANY prompt you give it is now property of Open AI so don't divulge personal numbers, proprietary information, or any details you would otherwise not want in the hands of a third party (eg: you can ask for code help, but if you're a full time coder, don't upload proprietary code that is property of your employer and ask ChatGPT to fix it because now a third party has it, creating a security risk depending on the code, you can lose your job over things like this).
Conclusion
Chat GPT is a revolutionary tool, offering a wide range of applications from content creation to professional assistance. By carefully crafting your prompts, and understanding its features, limitations, and security considerations, you can harness this AI chatbot to optimize your day and supercharge your productivity.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
What is Chat GPT?
Chat GPT is a cutting-edge language model developed by OpenAI. Powered by advanced machine learning techniques, it can understand and generate human-like text based on the input it receives, making it a versatile tool for a range of text-based tasks.
How can I access and set up Chat GPT?
To access Chat GPT, you typically need to sign up through OpenAI’s API or an integrated platform. After signing up, you'll receive an API key that allows you to integrate and interact with the Chat GPT model.
What are the main features of Chat GPT?
Chat GPT excels in text generation, conversation management, and customization. It can produce coherent and contextually relevant text, maintain conversations with users by understanding context, and be customized to suit specific tone, style, and content parameters.
In what ways can I use Chat GPT effectively?
Chat GPT can be used for content creation, brainstorming, answering questions, assisting with learning, generating code, and more. For best results, provide clear and specific prompts.
How should I phrase my prompts for the best results?
To get the most accurate and relevant responses, phrase your prompts clearly and specifically. Providing context helps, as does asking direct questions.
What are the limitations of Chat GPT?
Chat GPT might not always understand nuanced or complex queries, and it may occasionally produce incorrect or nonsensical information. It does not have the ability to access or retrieve personal data unless it has been shared in the course of the conversation.
Can Chat GPT misunderstand my input? How can I resolve this?
Yes, Chat GPT can misunderstand inputs. If this happens, try rephrasing your question or providing more context to help guide the model to a more accurate response.
Is my data secure while using Chat GPT?
Conversations with Chat GPT are generally encrypted and secure. However, it's best to avoid sharing sensitive personal information when using the service. Always check the data handling policies of the platform you are using.
How can Chat GPT help in professional settings?
In professional settings, Chat GPT can assist with drafting and editing content, brainstorming ideas, generating reports, automating customer service responses, and more. It can serve as a valuable tool for enhancing productivity and creativity.
Are there any costs associated with using Chat GPT?
Access to Chat GPT may come with a cost, depending on the platform or API plan you choose. Some services may offer free limited access, while others might require a subscription or usage-based fee.