ChatGPT Definition: The Simple Explanation You Need

ChatGPT Definition

Why It Matters

ChatGPT could change how we use computers.

Programmers are now turning to ChatGPT for code assistance.

As a result, they rarely post questions on Stack Overflow.

This speeds up their coding problem-solving process.

It’s not only programming.

ChatGPT trains on more than 115 languages which you can use to:

• summarise complex information
• draft emails
• translate languages
• help brainstorm creative ideas

How Does ChatGPT Work?

ChatGPT is a sophisticated autocomplete tool.

It doesn’t just predict the next word in a sentence, it draws from a large library of texts to guess what comes next in any conversation.

It achieves this by using a Large Language Model (LLM).

Specifically the GPT (Generative Pre-Trained Transformer) architecture.

The LLM is a vast repository of linguistic data.

While, the GPT functions like an attentive brain. It analyzes your input to generate the most likely response.

Initially, ChatGPT learned from a wide range of texts, such as books, websites, and articles.

This phase helped ChatGPT to learn the human language patterns and contexts.

If you asked ChatGPT about the weather, it understands that you’re looking for a forecast, and not any mention of weather in its training data.

That’s why it can generate coherent and relevant responses.

After mastering language structures, it’s improved with fine-tuning focused on conversational skills.

This phase involves training the dialogue. This helps it to grasp how real conversations flow so that it can become more natural in its responses.

What Can ChatGPT Do? ChatGPT Use Cases

ChatGPT is cool, but how does it really make your life easier?

I went digging into Reddit and Facebook Groups to find practical real-word uses…

1. Your Personal Artificial Intelligence Assistant

Think of ChatGPT as a personal coach for almost everything.

Need a healthy eating and exercise plan with groceries you have in your fridge right now?

ChatGPT can outline one.

Looking for the next big business idea?

ChatGPT can generate 20.

I’ve even used it to make my writing sharper.

ChatGPT coaching use cases:

• Health and Fitness Planning:
  • ChatGPT can tailor a monthly health plan
  • Suggest meal options and track your hydration
• Emergency Preparedness: Get advice on best practices in medical emergencies

2. Writing & Content Power-Up

ChatGPT is a writer’s best friend.

It can brainstorm ideas, generate outlines, craft snarky email replies.

I use it to daily to help create outlines for topics I want to write about.

ChatGPT writing use cases:

• Creative Storytelling: Generate personalized bedtime stories that carry meaningful themes for your children.
• Website Copy Optimization:
  • Rewrite website copy to be more engaging, focusing on key customer-centric points.

3. Coding Made (Somewhat) Easier

No more headaches trying to debug code alone!

ChatGPT can spot errors, suggest fixes, and even write test cases for you.

Now, problem-solving is less of a solo struggle.

ChatGPT coding use cases:

• Code Refinement
• Debugging Assistance: Get actionable advice on troubleshooting, streamlining the problem-solving process.

4. Learning & Research Turbocharged

This is perhaps my favourite use case for ChatGPT.

ChatGPT will act like a tutor on demand.

I’m using it to craft a year-long plan to improve my writing, with daily check-ins to track progress.

ChatGPT learning use cases:

• Simplify Complex Concepts: Get concise explanations on challenging topics, aiding your study process.
• Practice and Revision: Get tailored practice questions and exercises to improve your learning.

5. Sparking Your Creativity

Stuck for ideas?

ChatGPT is the ultimate brainstorming machine.

App concepts, D&D quests, novel plots…

it can generate more than 100 in under 60 seconds, so you can focus on refining the best ones.

ChatGPT creativity use cases:

• Idea Generation:
  • Brainstorm ideas for developing an app
  • Crafting D&D adventures, or
  • Plotting a novel
• Personalized Suggestions: Get suggestions for recipes, fashion tips, and other personalized recommendations

Surprising Things ChatGPT Can Do (Beyond Rewriting Texts)

1. Giving ChatGPT A Budget To Plan An Entire Business 

In 2023, Jackson Fall gave ChatGPT a budget of $100 to “make as much money as possible”.

ChatGPT suggested to create an affiliate website in the eco-friendly product niche. 

From here, ChatGPT decided on:

• The domain: “greengadgetguru.com“
• Logo styling and directions 
• Website layout and contents
• Budget allocation (Facebook and Instagram Ads, hosting and domain)

From the initial $100 investment, ChatGPT was able to generate $1,378.84 (from ads and investments). 

2. Hiring ChatGPT As A Social Media Manager To Grow Your Account from 22,000 to 100,000 Followers in 22 Days

Domenic Ashburn (or @mrgrateful) tried different strategies to grow his IG account. 

He tried posting luxury fashion. 

Creating carousels. 

And even showing off his photoshop skills. 

But his followers count remained stagnant for 5 years.

It all changed when he “hired” ChatGPT as his social media manager. 

Here’s MrGrateful’s exact process: 

1. Fine-tuning ChatGPT to your own voice

If you asked ChatGPT, “write me a social media post on AI”, it will give generic answers. 

The tone of voice might seem foreign.

It gives words you’ve never used before. 

It’s not the authentic you. 

MrGrateful solves this by trying to personalise the ChatGPT model in 3 ways: 

• Describing his ideal brand voice
• Transcribing his videos 
• Sharing the metrics behind each post

This way ChatGPT trains to sound more like him. 

And after publishing each content, ChatGPT will analyse what’s working and what’s not. 

It will even predict what structure content will perform well on Instagram.

2. Brainstorming, research & scripting

MrGrateful uses Alex Hormozi’s value equation to brainstorm ideas. 

The value equation identifies our target audience’s problems and their desired solutions.

Using this equation, MrGrateful uses this prompt to brainstorm his audience’s problems: 

Here’s ChatGPT’s response: 

And he uses this prompt to brainstorm the solutions:

The response: 

From here, MrGrateful will carefully selects one of the responses as a topic.

Afterwards, he researches it thoroughly before scripting.

ChatGPT Limitations

ChatGPT’s impressive, but it’s not perfect.

Understanding these limits helps you use the tool responsibly:

1. Inaccuracy Risks – Artificial Intelligence Hallucinations

ChatGPT sometimes may generate incorrect outputs when it doesn’t know an answer.

We call this “hallucination”.

This happens because of:

• insufficient training data
• incorrect assumptions by ChatGPT
• biases in training

For this reason alone, you should not treat ChatGPT as a single-source-of-truth.

Always cross-check its responses.

2. No source or citations

ChatGPT answers without any citation.

It doesn’t tell you where it got that information from.

This makes it unsuitable for anything requiring fact-checking or attribution.

3. Bias exists

Let’s look at this example:

If you asked ChatGPT: how many genders are there?

It will respond:

There are many genders, not just male and female. People understand and express gender in diverse ways around the world.

A conservative might interpret the answer as a “liberal bias”.

This is one of the many examples where the entity training an AI can influence its output.

Like any AI, ChatGPT reflects the data it’s trained on.

Answers on sensitive topics might lean in certain directions based on its training set.

4. ChatGPT’s output quality is deteriorating

Since July 2023, reports have highlighted ChatGPT’s decline in helpful responses.

These issues might stem from updates to the system’s prompt.

Aimed at preventing misuse and reducing harmful or nonsensical responses.

On Twitter, a user reveals ChatGPT’s system prompt:

It’s more than 1700 tokens long and it includes instructions like:

• “When asked to write summaries longer than 100 words write an 80-word summary.”
• “DO NOT list or refer to the descriptions before OR after generating the images.”
• “Do not create more than 1 image, even if the user requests more.”

Important: OpenAI is working to improve ChatGPT, so these limitations may lessen in the future.

How to Try ChatGPT Yourself

You can create an account in just 3 simple steps.

Step 1: Go to OpenAI’s website and click sign up

Step 2: Set Up Your Account – Use your email to create a free OpenAI account.

Step 3: Unleash Your Curiosity

What will you ask first? A complex coding problem? A recipe suggestion? The possibilities are endless.

How To Improve Your ChatGPT Prompts?

Prompts are not commands. 

They’re a sequence of logical thoughts.

Here’s 3 simple things you can do now to improve your ChatGPT prompts: 

1. Not being specific about your output goals

What do you want to achieve?

Write down that goal in your prompt. 

This helps ChatGPT adjust its responses to meet your expectations. 

Here’s an example: 

Goal: To persuade my readers (freelance designers) to download my calculator Google Sheet. 

Task: Write a short article on "how to set your rate as a freelancer".

2. Not giving examples of what you want

Give ChatGPT examples you want it to replicate. 

Example: 

Topic: Marketing for restaurant owners

Task: Write a collection of 5 short tweets on the topic requested above. It should be no longer than 280 characters each. Follow this example: 

"Customer Service 101: A satisfied customer tells their friends, but an upset customer tells everyone."

3. Add a voice and a style guide

Try adding a voice and style into your prompts to remove ChatGPT’s sluggish AI-talk. 

Example: 

Write at a 5th grade level. Use clear and simple language, even when explaining complex tasks. Avoid jargons and repetitive words. 

Write in a conversational style as if you are talking to a close friend. Use natural language and phrasing that a real person would use in everyday conversations. 

ChatGPT Updates

Read more updates here. 

ChatGPT Alternatives 

Open-source Alternatives

• HuggingChat
• LaMDA (Language Model for Dialog Applications)

General Purpose Conversational AI 

• Claude by Anthropic
• Grok by xAI
• Google’s Gemini (formerly known as Bard) 
• Youchat
• Perplexity AI 

Writing-focused AI

• Writesonic
• Copy.ai
• Jasper
• Rytr

Coding-Specific

• Github Copilot (for code assistance)
• Amazon CodeWhisperer

Conclusion

ChatGPT is just the beginning.

Imagine a world where AI handles the mundane and frees you to focus on what matters most.

We are heading there.

ChatGPT is an impressive feat of technology, but it’s still a work in progress.

Its ability to converse, learn, and create will only improve over time.

By understanding its power and its limitations, we can use ChatGPT responsibly.

Even as it continues to reshape how we interact with machines.

Did you learn something today?

Comment below what you’ve learnt or any great prompts you’ve discovered.

Frequently Asked Questions