“When used intelligently…”. Like any tool, you have people that know how to use it, others that injure themselves, and ones that are too scared to try.
I love Perplexity and chatGPT and can't see living without either going forward. But I currently only use a small percentage of their power (I have ideas for more uses though).
For example, I read a lot of SF books. But it is difficult to find books I haven't read or authors I might like. Previously, you might join a forum that discusses the subject or a site like Goodreads to find books. Now, I just input to the AI that I enjoyed a certain author/book, give me recommendations for similar authors/books and voilà, the list appears in seconds for me to consider/choose from! Want a list of every book that has won the Hugo award? Just ask. Takes a few seconds.
Another use is understanding a book. In this case, you might have to join a book club or a forum and hope to find expert discussion there.
For example, I recently read the Kefahuchi book trilogy by well known author M. John Harrison. I really did not understand the books at all. So I had an interactive, real-time back and forth discussion with chatGPT, which proved quite helpful. REAL TIME! I still would not recommend the book series but I understand what the author may have been attempting to accomplish better.
The ability to do this on the spur of the moment was previously unobtainable.
Or take questions about grammar and word definitions. I no longer have to wade through multiple websites to find an answer to a grammar question and if I query a word for a definition, I get it immediately, without having to open websites to obtain the meaning.
A few days ago I was looking to make an overlay on a map (historical vs. current borders). I used chatGPT to make that overlay without having to write any code at all! Took about 15 minutes to get it like I wanted. Who knew?
There are so many examples of ways that AI can help anyone. People who don't or refuse to understand this are luddites.
Those are great examples. I've been using it to do deep research on random topics that interest me and the outputs are great. I'll have to consider the book club type idea.
Michael- excellent synthesis of the current best usage (in my opinion) of AI- as a research assistant. That o3 model will still sometimes stretch the truth, but not if I box it in; “provide evidence and the exact source and location so I can definitively locate it”
I’ve been using LLMS for a lot of the same. And this week ChatGPT5 just dropped and it’s crazy good. I’m not even using Google as much as I was because I can get much better answers from the LLMs.
“When used intelligently…”. Like any tool, you have people that know how to use it, others that injure themselves, and ones that are too scared to try.
Yep. Absolutely right.
Wonderful essay.
Thanks, Trying to avoid all the doom and gloom about AI and find ways to use it in a productive manner.
FYI: Your suggestion has been approved!
The library will acquire the following Book: "Paradox: Book One of The Singularity Chronicles, by Michael Woudenberg".
Book 2 also.
Holy cow. That's awesome. Thanks!
I love Perplexity and chatGPT and can't see living without either going forward. But I currently only use a small percentage of their power (I have ideas for more uses though).
For example, I read a lot of SF books. But it is difficult to find books I haven't read or authors I might like. Previously, you might join a forum that discusses the subject or a site like Goodreads to find books. Now, I just input to the AI that I enjoyed a certain author/book, give me recommendations for similar authors/books and voilà, the list appears in seconds for me to consider/choose from! Want a list of every book that has won the Hugo award? Just ask. Takes a few seconds.
Another use is understanding a book. In this case, you might have to join a book club or a forum and hope to find expert discussion there.
For example, I recently read the Kefahuchi book trilogy by well known author M. John Harrison. I really did not understand the books at all. So I had an interactive, real-time back and forth discussion with chatGPT, which proved quite helpful. REAL TIME! I still would not recommend the book series but I understand what the author may have been attempting to accomplish better.
The ability to do this on the spur of the moment was previously unobtainable.
Or take questions about grammar and word definitions. I no longer have to wade through multiple websites to find an answer to a grammar question and if I query a word for a definition, I get it immediately, without having to open websites to obtain the meaning.
A few days ago I was looking to make an overlay on a map (historical vs. current borders). I used chatGPT to make that overlay without having to write any code at all! Took about 15 minutes to get it like I wanted. Who knew?
There are so many examples of ways that AI can help anyone. People who don't or refuse to understand this are luddites.
Those are great examples. I've been using it to do deep research on random topics that interest me and the outputs are great. I'll have to consider the book club type idea.
Michael- excellent synthesis of the current best usage (in my opinion) of AI- as a research assistant. That o3 model will still sometimes stretch the truth, but not if I box it in; “provide evidence and the exact source and location so I can definitively locate it”
And GPT5 does even better right now. It's crazy.
I’ve been using LLMS for a lot of the same. And this week ChatGPT5 just dropped and it’s crazy good. I’m not even using Google as much as I was because I can get much better answers from the LLMs.
GPT5 is pretty incredible. I’ve been playing with it this weekend.