ChatGPT is dominating the internet right now. It's the fastest-growing AI system to date & only one week after its launch it reached over 1 million users. But what is it, how can you use it, and what's so great about it?

Have you ever dreamt of having a friend to talk with at any time; who can answer all your questions, give advice, help you code, and write poems equate to Shakespeare? Well, now you can.

ChatGPT is that friend who never sleeps, never gets bored, and is always ready to lend a helping hand. You could say it's like having your own genie in a digital bottle.🧞‍♂️

Since its launch in November 2022, chatGPT has taken over the news and social media. Twitter and LinkedIn are full of screenshots of chatGPT conversations. And many of its early fans speak of it in astonished, grandiose terms, as if it were some mix of software and sorcery.

But is it as good as it seems, and how on earth does it work? 🤔

Let's break it down.

What is it?

ChatGPT is a language model developed by the AI research and deployment company OpenAI. ChatGPT is a chatbot that uses advanced natural language processing techniques to generate text that sounds human-like.

OK...

What is a fricking language model?... 😟

...is a perfectly normal follow-up question if you (like me) are an individual unfamiliar with programming.

So, let us break it down in simpler terms.

A language model is a way for computers to capture and understand the patterns in how people speak or write. It gives computers a reliable way to predict or produce new sentences.

Still confused?

OK, let me try an analogy instead.

Think of a language model as a recipe. Based on the preceding words, the computer uses statistical and probabilistic techniques to create a recipe. The computer then uses this recipe to predict what words come next or what sentence to produce.

So what can a language model do?

To make a long story short -- what it's trained to do. Nothing more, nothing less.

Some models get trained to generate text from scratch. Other models get trained to extract answers from existing text.

What differentiates chatGPT from other chatbots?

Compared to other chatbots, chatGPT has a more advanced natural language processing (NLP) technique allowing it to have a better contextual understanding. This means the chatbot can remember what was previously written and ask follow-up questions without the user having to repeat themselves.

Related: How Ebbot interprets human language

How is it possible for chatGPT to have this high level of contextual understanding?

It's all about having access to a lot of data. Because accessing a lot of data means having a great deal of information to learn from. And by using a transformer neural network, chatGPT can analyze patterns in the data and generate text appropriate for that given context.

Ughh. 😖😖😖

Another complicated word.

Transformer neural network.

Don't worry. I'm gonna try explaining this one with a metaphor.

Imagine you are in a large room with a group of people, trying to understand a conversation happening across the room.

You might start by listening to the first person speaking and taking notes on what they are saying. Then, you might pass the notes on to the person next to you, who adds their own observations based on what they have heard or seen. This process continues as the conversation progresses, with each person adding their own understanding and interpretation to the notes.

Now picture it like each person in the room represents a layer in the transformer neural network.

The input data (the conversation happening across the room) is passed from person to person (layer to layer), and each person (layer) adds their own understanding and interpretation to it. By the time the notes (output data) reach the end of the chain, they contain a rich and detailed comprehension of the conversation that happened across the room.

How can chatGPT be used?

There are many ways to use chatGPT. Developers can use it to fix issues in the code. Writes can use it to draft new articles. Students can use it as a teacher or mentor.

The possibilities are endless.

Compared to using a search engine when searching for an answer, chatGPT will not only provide you with the correct answer. It will also guide you on how to do it step-by-step. Plus, chatGPT will ask follow-up questions to make sure you fully understand the solution to apply it on your own.

So to summarize, chatGPT gives you the answer you're looking for AND teaches you how to do it yourself.

Pretty convienient, right? 😉

Are there any limitations?

Like all AI technology, chatGPT has certain limitations in its capabilities and performance. chatGPT is a language model that requires significant computational resources to run, which makes it difficult or expensive to use in some situations. Additionally,cChatGPT is trained on a large dataset of text, so its responses may not be well-suited to topics or situations outside its training data.

Another limitation of chatGPT is that it is a machine learning model, so it is only as good as the data it is trained on. This means that chatGPT may sometimes generate biased or offensive responses because it has learned these patterns from the data it was trained on.

Last but not least, it is only trained on data up until the year 2021, so its lacking knowledge of more recent events.

Will it replace the need for humans?

To recite our CTO Mikael:

"Hah, we are not there yet."

Although chatGPT may be able to replicate some of the functions of a human, it is unlikely to completely replace humans. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Lack of physical capabilities ChatGPT has no physical body or senses and can't interact with the world as humans can. It can't pick up objects, move around, or perform physical tasks. This limits its ability to carry out tasks requiring a physical presence or manipulation.

2. Lack of emotions and empathy It may be able to simulate empathy to a certain extent. But it can't fully empathize or understand human emotions the same way as humans do. This is a critical aspect of many human interactions and relationships, and it is something that chatGPT will never be able to fully replicate.

3. Lack of creativity and original thought Although chatGPT can generate text resembling human language, it is not capable of original thought or producing novel ideas. It can only produce responses based on the data it has been trained on. Therefore its output is limited to what it has already learned.

4. Ethical concerns Using artificial intelligence, including chatGPT, raises ethical concerns. For example, there are concerns about the potential for AI to be used for malicious purposes. Or to perpetuate biases present in the data it is trained on. These concerns will need to be carefully considered and addressed as AI advances.

Final thoughts

So, all in all - is the new chatGPT worthy of its hype?

Do heroes wear capes?

Honestly, chatGPT has blown my mind.🤯🤯🤯

It has taken AI chatbots to a whole new level. It's smarter. Weirder. More flexible. It can write jokes (some of which are funny), work computer code, and write college-level essays.

And last but not least, it is easy to use. Anyone can understand and use it. No matter earlier experience with AI or programming.

Let's end this blog post with another quote from our CTO Mikael:

"ChatGPT is very impressing, and it will create incredible opportunities going forward."