{"id":34272,"date":"2023-04-19T13:10:05","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T12:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/?p=34272"},"modified":"2023-07-17T13:33:54","modified_gmt":"2023-07-17T12:33:54","slug":"chatgpt-whats-all-the-fuss-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digileaders.com\/chatgpt-whats-all-the-fuss-about\/","title":{"rendered":"ChatGPT. What\u2019s all the fuss about?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Senior Triad consultant Henry Grech-Cini is an expert in computer vision. He gave a crash course in ChatGPT live at Digital Leader\u2019s Public Sector Insight Week. This is what he had to say.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

ChatGPT is an application built using GPT-3 (and more recently GPT-4), which are large-scale language models developed by OpenAI. GPT stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer model.\u00a0 The transformer part came from a paper in 2017 called \u201cAttention is all you need\u201d. The paper discussed how one can take large amounts of data and train a model to generate output. The \u2018generative\u2019 stands for making the next step in the message sequence. It is pre-trained and uses a transformer model, which is why it can give the impression that it can reason. However, it doesn\u2019t reason as humans do.<\/p>\n

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The basic idea<\/h3>\n

Appreciating the simplicity of GPT is important, because this will allow you to understand its capability and limitations. Given an input sequence of information (GPT calls them tokens), it will try to predict the probability of what the next token will be. And it performs that repeatedly. Tokens aren\u2019t words. They equate to about 4 characters each. So, you give it information, and it predicts and selects the next token and reiterates.<\/p>\n

ChatGPT can give you an Illusion of Intelligence. It can refer to a limited amount of the conversation that preceded it. But it can\u2019t currently fact-check itself. It is a sophisticated predictive system based on its training data and refinements over time. It does not possess any ability to reason. Don\u2019t share its output without checking thoroughly. Try challenging its response; it may apologise and change its position.<\/p>\n

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How useful is ChatGPT?<\/h3>\n

Well, it depends on what you want to use it for. I think there are many use cases. Here are five:<\/p>\n

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  1. Summarising long texts and articles<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    ChatGPT is particularly good at summarising long texts and articles. For example, you could paste some text and ask it to summarise the text in 50 words. The transformer architecture means that it is excellent for that. Don\u2019t submit any information that is either sensitive, official, or personal because OpenAI collects all input to improve the system.<\/p>\n

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    1. Answering questions on a wide range of topics.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      The most widely used version of ChatGPT was trained on\u202fa vast amount of information and knowledge on a wide range of topics,\u202ffrom history and science to sports and entertainment up until 2021. Be wary of using it instead of search engines, and don\u2019t use it for recent topics. It is good for creating content such as agendas or providing recommendations. Its output is only as good as the guidance you have given it. It takes skill and effort to hone your input.<\/p>\n

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      1. Generating coherent and grammatically correct text<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        ChatGPT uses a neural network architecture called a transformer. And this helps it generate coherent and grammatically correct text by capturing long-range dependencies between words to maintain the context over long text passages. Don\u2019t use the first response. Refine it with further clarifications as required. Be careful; there are significant risks when using it to generate text about a subject you know little about. There is a high probability that it can be convincing, but\u202ffalse.<\/p>\n

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        1. Engaging in human-like conversations<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          It\u2019s trained on previous chat sessions between humans and can be used for general webchat, though its depth of engagement can be shallow. There is huge potential here.<\/p>\n

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          1. Translating text from one language to another<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            ChatGPT was pre-trained on parallel corpora text in multiple languages. These are texts in one language paired with translations in another language. This pre-training enables the model to have a strong understanding of the relationship between different languages and how they map to each other. Results can be impressive. It\u2019s worth noting that there are dedicated models that may provide greater accuracy. Check the translation with a\u202fnative speaker and be careful when translating complex or idiomatic phrases.<\/p>\n

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            The pitfalls of ChatGPT<\/h3>\n

            There are significant pitfalls associated with using ChatGPT and other generative AI tools.\u202fThese include issues related to:<\/p>\n