CHATGPT: OPENAI'S FREE WEBSITE

 ©2024 Donald R. Snow - Page last updated 2024-09-17

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ABSTRACT:  This class discusses OpenAI's free website and program ChatGPT.  We first review what Artificial intelligence (AI) is and then how to get started with ChatGP T to use it.  OpenAI has commercial (paid) versions of ChatGPT, but here we only discuss the free version.  Also, we only discuss in this class text items and not images, videos, nor music. AI is expanding rapidly with many features that are helpful in family history and elsewhere.  The notes with active links for this and related classes are on my website  https://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html .

    WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION

  1. Instructor is Donald R. Snow ( snowd@math.byu.edu ) of Provo, Utah.
  2. The notes with active links and additional information in other notes and articles are posted at http://uvtagg.org/classes/dons/dons-classes.html .
  3. Problem for today:  What is AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ChatGPT, in particular,  and how do you use it?   

    4. ABOUT AI

  4. AI is sometimes referred to as "large language models" since it searches large text databases for the search terms, i.e. the prompt that you enter, and it brings back and writes a narrative of the words it finds near your search terms. 
  5. Since it assumes that words near your search terms are related to them, you sometimes get inaccurate or unrelated results for what you want. All AI websites warn you to check the results before you accept them. 
  6. AI's strong points are that it can find things you didn't know or have forgotten and it helps you organize the information.
  7. AI's weak points are that it may give you information that is inaccurate or not related to what you want. 
  8. There are many helpful articles about AI; here is one from Wikipedia -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence .  
  9. Once you get to any AI website, a helpful prompt  is "How do I use the AI website [name]?", to learn about other AI websites.  
  10. Some examples of prompts are below in these notes. 

    11. OPENAI'S CHATGPT

  11. ChatGPT's website is -- https://openai.com/chatgpt/ 
  12. For a bookmark to get to this website drag the icon from in front of the address box to your Bookmarks toolbar or desktop.   
  13. For most AI websites you have to set up an account (usually free), but sometimes ChatGPT lets you use it without an account.  
  14. You enter a prompt (question) in the box and click the "send" icon at the end of the line. Then, when you see the results, "sharpen" the prompt by adding key words to get closer to what you want.  
  15. There are entire books written now about how to write good prompts.  You can also ask any AI website for suggestions of how to do I use any other AI website.

    16. CAUTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

  16. Like all technology, AI can be used for bad purposes, so be careful. 
  17. AI usually tells you where it found the information, and suggests you check it before accepting it.
  18. Since AI programs use online collections of text, be careful of what you put online or even in AI prompts, since it may end up in a text database for others to see.     
  19. In using AI be specific in what you ask for and when you get the results, sharpen your query by adding more key words.  
  20. You may find it helpful to copy and save the text results in a file so you can review and edit them later without redoing the query.     
  21. Different AI websites check your search terms against different large text collections, so they may give you different results; hence try more than one AI website.    

    22. PROMPTS TO TRY

  22. "how do I get started using ChatGPT?" (without the quotes)
  23. "find information about [Ancestor Name] in [location] in about [years]."
  24. "Create a list of websites of digital newspapers in California."
  25. "what should I include in a genealogy class of 4 classes about AI?"  
  26. "what 20 slides should I use in a PowerPoint for a genealogy class about Wisconsin birth records?"    
  27. "How can I get my school records  from the Los Angeles City School District in California in the 1940s and 1950s?"
  28. "How can I get a copy of my father's WW I U.S. Army service record?" 

    29. CONCLUSIONS

  29. Once you get started, AI is easy to use.
  30. After you get the first results, sharpen your query to get information closer to what you want. 
  31. OpenAI's ChatGPT is a simple place to begin using AI.  
Return to the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group Home Page or Don's Class Listings Page .