From Sonnets to Syntax: How you can use ChatGPT

From Sonnets to Syntax: How you can use ChatGPT

I think ChatGPT and its ilk can do a lot of good in the world. It can help us start to balance human productivity in a healthier way — getting less dull or repetitive work out of the way and rewarding ingenuity and real skill instead. I want to learn how to use it to be ahead of the curve, working less and having higher morale for myself, my employees, and my friends. This is my attempt to focus that.

First: the plugin. I use Google Chrome, and I have a lovely plugin called: ChatGPT Sidebar. I’d suggest you install it and it will randomly summarize things and make trying it the flick of a finger. It is not as good as the base ChatGPT, but it’s nice to remind you to try it once in a while.

Other bonus — have you noticed how bad Google is for search? Once you install the brain, you can ask and it will provide you with a really good answer. Want to read it from the source? Ask it to cite the sources. Bam.

Second: You are training the mechanism to YOU. Respond to it the way you’d like it to respond. So far, it’s going to take learning it to get good, like HTML. And to really get good, it tells me you need to use programming languages like Python and third party cloud based learning software like Hugging Face. The more you understand how it works, the more you’ll get out of it and the more new ideas it can do.

Okay, time to dive in.

Understand the basics of how ChatGPT works: ChatGPT is a language model that uses deep learning algorithms to generate text. It was trained on a large corpus of text and can generate responses to a wide range of prompts. To use ChatGPT, you simply enter a prompt or question, and the model will generate a response based on what has already been taught to it and what you teach it.

First, name it — it will make you talk more fluently with it and treat it well. Tell it you’d like to name it whatever and it will remember.

Use specific and clear prompts: To get the best responses from ChatGPT, it’s important to use specific and clear prompts. This means avoiding vague or open-ended questions, and instead asking focused and well-defined questions. For example, instead of asking “What is the meaning of life?”, ask “What are some different philosophical theories about the meaning of life?” You can also be specific in the type of responses, from formatting to what specifically you want.

Be patient and persistent: ChatGPT is a powerful tool, but it’s not perfect. Sometimes it may generate irrelevant or nonsensical responses, or fail to understand your question. If this happens, don’t give up! Try rephrasing your question or using more specific language to see if you can get a better response.

Straight up, you actually should introduce yourself to it, copy your bio in there, and then ask how it can help you. How you interact with it will shape its responses.

Experiment with different prompts and formats: ChatGPT can generate text in a variety of formats, including paragraphs, bullet points, and lists. Experiment with different formats to see which one works best for your needs. You can also try using different types of prompts, such as questions, statements, or keywords, to see which ones generate the most useful responses. Here’s a wonderful website that can help. As someone with advanced skills in research, I cannot tell you how much your input matters to the output.

Use ChatGPT as a starting point, not a final answer: While ChatGPT can be a powerful tool for generating ideas and answering questions, it’s important to remember that it’s not a substitute for critical thinking or human expertise. Always use ChatGPT’s responses as a starting point for your own research and analysis, and be prepared to do additional research and thinking to arrive at a final answer. In fact, train it when you don’t get what you like by providing the info!

Provide feedback: The most quick and effective way to give feedback to ChatGPT is by simply typing “feedback” or “report a problem” in the chat window during your conversation. This will often trigger an automated feedback form or connect you with a human operator who can help you with your feedback. At the same time, you can also casually correct it in conversation.

Here’s an example:

I asked it: In one sentence, what are you?

Sloodle (my name for it) said: “I am ChatGPT, a large language model trained by OpenAI, based on the GPT-3.5 architecture, designed to respond to questions and generate human-like text.”

I asked it: “Can you repeat that with less technical information?”

Sloodle gave me: “I’m a computer program designed to understand and generate human language, and I can help answer questions or provide information on a variety of topics.”

And then, finally, for kicks, I asked it to do it like Shakespeare would.

Sloodle: “Oh fair sir or madam, I am a creation of mortal men, A vast library of words and phrases that I pen.”

Glorious.

Protect your privacy and security: ChatGPT is an AI language model that requires access to your text inputs in order to generate responses. To protect your privacy and security, be careful about the type of information you share with ChatGPT. Avoid sharing sensitive or personal information, and be cautious about sharing confidential or proprietary information.

Well, there you have it folks! From sonnets to syntax, we’ve explored the various ways in which ChatGPT can be used to enhance your writing and language skills. With its vast knowledge base and sophisticated algorithms, ChatGPT is an indispensable tool for anyone looking to take their writing to the next level. And let’s not forget the role that Sloodle played in helping to write this very essay! So go ahead, give ChatGPT a try, and see how it can transform your writing from drab to fab in no time.