About 2 months ago, after repeatedly hearing about AI and ChatGPT on newscasts, I decided to take a closer look. At that time I used the free ChatGPT3. I played with it a bit, comparing searches with Google Search with the same search terms in ChatGPT3. As time went on, the differences between the 2 resources became clearer.
At first, I was just playing with it. Now, I find that greater than 50% of my queries are to ChatGPT4 (compared to Google Search). Yes, about 1 month ago I upgraded to the paid account with ChatGPT to get the ChatGPT4 access. That costs $20/month. It’s more money if you want to eliminate the advertizing.
ChatGPT4 is a newer, smarter version of the program.
It has its limitations. It is not 100% correct in its answers, but it is close to it. So, you have to keep that in mind when you use it and monitor its output closely.
So where have I used it?
So, what types of things have I used it for other than simple information searches?
- How to do things in WordPress for developing websites
- How to troubleshoot an RC helicopter setup I was having a problem with.
- I have given it medical inquiries and the results have been accurate.
- I have asked it to translate text from English to Spanish, and the translations are excellent (better than Google Translate)
- I have asked it to improve the wording of things I and others have written and it does a fantastic job. I find I need to edit its output a little, but the end result is much better than I could have done on my own.
Like with Google Search, the key is learning how to optimize your queries and prompts in a way to fine tune the resultant output.
ChatGPT vs Google
With ChatGPT, a session is not a series of independent queries. It remembers the ongoing “conversation” just as if you were talking to a person. Therefore you don’t need to keep repeating yourself. For example, if you ask it to reword an article (or generate from scratch) an article on a certain topic and you think the output is too formal, you could simply say “Do it again, please, but this time make it informal”. Or you could say “give it an angry tone” or word it at a 4th grade level. ChatGPT would remember all the previous conversation like a person (better than a person), so your follow up questions and prompts can be very quick and efficient.
In just 2 months it has become my new Google Search.
I still use Google Search. For example, if I want to find something specific on the internet (eg. an IMDB review of a certain movie) I use Google search.
If I want expert advice on how to handle or solve a problem as if I were consulting and conversing with an expert in that field, ChatGPT4 often gets me the answers I need faster.
Conclusion
If you haven’t already taken a look at it and tried it out it is available at https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt and it is available as an app for your smartphone.
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