What kind of stuff have you been using ChatGPT and other AI bots for?

[Sadness]

I've been using ChatGPT since it was released for free to the public. I don't use it very often, although I would like to because I like playing with the technology and find it fun and sometimes helpful! Here are some cool ways I've found to utilize the tool:

~ I asked it to write me a Google Sheets script that would automatically create a new row with a date on it, every day in the morning for a personal to-do list project. I was shocked when it actually worked!

~ I use it to practice languages I'm learning, especially because I'm at a point right now where I make far too many mistakes and it's kind of embarrassing. Talking to a bot helps me practice my written conversational skills and even expand my vocabulary! The AI also can correct me in mid-conversation, and answer any questions I have about "why" one thing is correct while another is not, which is labor I wouldn't want an actual human to be responsible for (it's a lot of work!)

~ Again with language learning, sometimes I'll give it a word I come across in a book or article that seems unusual. I will ask the AI to tell me whether the word is formal/informal, how commonly/uncommonly it is used, and which countries the word is most often used in. I could gather this information myself, but it would take way longer than just asking ChatGPT.

~ Introspective counseling - AI is definitely not equipped to handle serious mental health issues, but sometimes you just need help reasoning through some ideas, or need to be asked certain follow-up questions to delve into a concept more. You can even ask for book/podcast recommendations.

Bing recently released an AI-image generation tool that is free and uses Dall-E, which I have also been playing with. You get tokens which generates your images faster, but when you run out you're not completely cut off - it just takes longer for them to generate. I don't have any real "use" for these images, aside from maybe making customized PFPs, but I think it's really fun to play around with and see what you can create, and then sharing those with friends.

I'm always looking for new things to try out with these AI tools, while they are still free and unlimited. (I don't think I'd pay for a tool like this unless the cost was super low and the access was unlimited, neither of which is really being offered right now.)

How do you use this tool and other tools like it?

[Arevakhach]

I'm a teacher, I wrote about using the bot to write my student report card comments a little while back. You can read that here if you'd like. I'm trying to keep it a little up-to-date with a couple of resources at the top. But if it gets too much, I'll probably just write a follow-up.

Honestly though: Recommendation letters, grading, feedback, parent-collegue-student communication, admin filler work, etc. My job has to have become at least 40% less annoying. I have a lot of hate for the predatory ed-tech industry, but AI could legitimately make working life easier... MAYBE.

Additionally, a small hobby I've been enjoying lately is Creative Coding, particularly with p5.js (this piece is not mine, just an example). Sometimes my pieces require math that I both do not know, and, sometimes, is a serious pain to Google. The bot answers immediately and even though I usually just grab the equations and go, it kindly attempts explanation to my 2 remaining brain cells.

One thing I teach is programming, and, honestly, if the kids learned to use it effectively, it's gotta be a better teacher than me. Obviously, plenty of my job a chatbot could never do, but, I mean, what it's doing here is arguably the core of my work. It's incredible. I'm going to write about it at some point, but I sincerely believe institutionalized technology education is significantly inferior to diving in head-first yourself. There's nothing stopping the capable, only their will.

~ Introspective counseling - AI is definitely not equipped to handle serious mental health issues, but sometimes you just need help reasoning through some ideas, or need to be asked certain follow-up questions to delve into a concept more. You can even ask for book/podcast recommendations.

I was joking around somewhere this week that, well: this acquaintance of mine was taking notes as I spoke and I said something like: "Be sure to share those note with me so I can give them to my psychologist, ChatGPT. I've recieved helpful advice regarding my relationship with my wife, ChatGPT. We've even been complimented at church by our local pastor, ChatGPT." Crazy, but, jeez... maybe less so than ever.

Last thing: This Hacker News thread does well to remind many of security concerns regarding ChatGPT. I think it's very possible for a leak of data collected to occur.

How comfortable is anybody here feeling about having their recent therapy sessions on display for everyone to see?

Y'all be careful out there, yeah?

[Sadness]

I'm a teacher,

It's refreshing how much you've embraced this tool! My line of work has always been somewhat ed-tech-adjacent and most people in those roles seem to be either dismissive of or afraid of the implications of AI. I agree with your perspective that it can be an awesome formative learning tool if used correctly!

One thing I teach is programming, and, honestly, if the kids learned to use it effectively, it's gotta be a better teacher than me. Obviously, plenty of my job a chatbot could never do, but, I mean, what it's doing here is arguably the core of my work. It's incredible.

I totally agree! I love that it has the capability to answer pointed questions. When I tried teaching myself things before, I would always just use a search engine to dig up some forum where someone asked the same question that I had, or something similar and pray there was a response. This effectively cuts out that step which allows for more direct access to specific and nuanced questions you have. Also, for coding, I love how it will add comments to the code, so you can understand exactly which code does what (although of course sometimes it can just spit out code that just doesn't work/make sense). Still, it's pretty impressive!

I think it's very possible for a leak of data collected to occur.

Oh yeah, I definitely operate under the assumption that all of the data it collects is going to be leaked at some point. I don't think it's a big deal as long as you're not feeding it personally identifiable information. I use an alt email to access most AI tools which is in no way connected with my irl identity, because it's hard not to be paranoid about that kind of thing happening!

Last thing: This Hacker News thread does well to remind many of security concerns regarding ChatGPT.

Oh gosh this article is interesting and puts into context why my boss sent something out recently warning people not to feed ChatGPT sensitive company data... I didn't think anyone would actually do that but... I guess not hahaha.

[Blog47177]

I'm a teacher,

It's refreshing how much you've embraced this tool! My line of work has always been somewhat ed-tech-adjacent and most people in those roles seem to be either dismissive of or afraid of the implications of AI. I agree with your perspective that it can be an awesome formative learning tool if used correctly!

One thing I teach is programming, and, honestly, if the kids learned to use it effectively, it's gotta be a better teacher than me. Obviously, plenty of my job a chatbot could never do, but, I mean, what it's doing here is arguably the core of my work. It's incredible.

I totally agree! I love that it has the capability to answer pointed questions. When I tried teaching myself things before, I would always just use a search engine to dig up some forum where someone asked the same question that I had, or something similar and pray there was a response. This effectively cuts out that step which allows for more direct access to specific and nuanced questions you have. Also, for coding, I love how it will add comments to the code, so you can understand exactly which code does what (although of course sometimes it can just spit out code that just doesn't work/make sense). Still, it's pretty impressive!

I think it's very possible for a leak of data collected to occur.

Oh yeah, I definitely operate under the assumption that all of the data it collects is going to be leaked at some point. I don't think it's a big deal as long as you're not feeding it personally identifiable information. I use an alt email to access most AI tools which is in no way connected with my irl identity, because it's hard not to be paranoid about that kind of thing happening!

Last thing: This Hacker News thread does well to remind many of security concerns regarding ChatGPT.

Oh gosh this article is interesting and puts into context why my boss sent something out recently warning people not to feed ChatGPT sensitive company data... I didn't think anyone would actually do that but... I guess not hahaha.

Thank you!! I knew Chat GPT is useful for doing rough drafts and templates but at the end I would have to insert my own takes within that structure though. However the talks about AI is rife with political stuff and marketing hype by the VC's.

[w3lchia]

I use it for fun, mainly Character.ai and AI Dungeon. It's pretty fun tbh and a temporary alternative to roleplaying with real people when nobody wants to :p I don't really like using it for real-life stuff like learning stuff, because I don't really trust the AI to say actually accurate stuff.

I used to use those image generation things for fun but not much.

[sixeyes]

A lot of my colleagues use it... i don't know exactly why, but it irks me a little. You're letting the probability machine write the configuration for your production environment?

On the other hand, i did ask it about some problem i had and while not giving me a finished solution, it informed me that there was no algebraic solution and i would have to approximate by gradient descent or similar. Super helpful! (Then when i pestered a math friend about my problem, he immediately pointed out that like if you stay within these specific constraints the solution is a simple matrix multiplication. So yeah)

I've tried roleplaying a little bit, especially with GPT-4 through OpenAI's playground feature, where you can set the system role like "You are the great killer wolf, your teeth are sharp and you are hungry. Your dream is to join a jazz band" and then ask it questions about chord progressions. It'll reason with me about some note's purpose in the thing while also growling and snarling. It's fun and a bit weird

[Ray]

I actually just recently started using ChatGPT - I kind of buried my head in the sand for a while there, since most of the AI news that reached me were from digital artist spaces - and pretty bleak :')

Tbh it's fantastic. I toyed with it for a bit to help my partner with conversations in English - you can literally ask it to correct your English and it does a pretty good job!!
Also I find it's really useful for finding specific tidbits of info very quickly. Like, it gave me a list of books that include recipes for whole-grain gluten free bread in seconds.
Plus, it's sooo useful how you can literally correct what you were asking later on / continue the conversation. I asked tips on how to avoid choking on water while swimming, and it gave me generic info for going underwater - then I explained that I was getting water on my face doing back style, and it just told me to turn my head in the direction of my arm each time. This was such a simple answer! But, it was just so much easier to ask ChatGPT than do multiple google searches.
It even recommended me some active forums on topics I'm into, but I've still got to properly check them out. And those are insanely hard to find by google!

On the topic of ChatGPT - did you hear it's now blocked in Italy? Our Italian Data Protection Authority asked for OpenAI to basically account for a few stuff in regard to how they use their data - in few words: if they were granted permission to use the data they gathered for machine learning (they weren't), how they process the data the users enter in the chatbot, lack of adequate information to their users about what data is shared/how/why, and no age check whatsoever.
They were asked to comply with these info in 20 days or face a big fine - OpenAI decided to just cut Italy off altogether instead. I get why, absolutely - but it also is a bit like sweeping the problem under the rug, isn't it? This *is* a discussion that will have to be made, sooner or after. Europe is pretty strict with privacy laws, so I can't imagine us being the only country that will do something of the sort.

Don't get me wrong, I'm of the crowd that still uses a VPN to access it, but I feel like there's some merit to this. It's so so much easier to share personal info when in a chat format. Beware of what you post, and beware even more of the data you surrender yourself.

Last thing: This Hacker News thread does well to remind many of security concerns regarding ChatGPT. I think it's very possible for a leak of data collected to occur.

How comfortable is anybody here feeling about having their recent therapy sessions on display for everyone to see?

Y'all be careful out there, yeah?

^ precisely this