AI and Me

I won’t pretend to be an expert on artificial intelligence, but I am a huge fan.

ChatGPT first burst onto the scene on 30 November 2022.  At that time, I had been the CEO of www.educationquizzes.com for 13 years, and I saw that this was a tool that could be immensely beneficial to the business.  Here is why…

One of the primary ongoing costs for Education Quizzes is the creation of new quizzes. While crafting 10 questions for any given topic may sound straightforward, the reality is far more complex.

Each quiz requires ten questions that are precisely on-topic, along with four credible multiple-choice answers for each question, and an indication of the correct answer. Additionally, we write a ‘Helpful Comment’ that appears when a question is answered, aiding learning retention. An engaging introduction is also essential.

On top of that, each quiz must be search-engine optimized, with carefully selected keywords, unique meta descriptions, and titles to achieve higher search rankings.

All of this demands subject-matter expertise and involves completing over seventy database fields for every quiz.

What if ChatGPT could handle this entire process at a fraction of the cost of hiring expert teachers?

We invested several thousand pounds in developing AI quiz-writing capabilities, but it didn’t yield the success I had envisioned. To understand why it fell short, read the blog at AI Quizzes Flop.

Undeterred, I looked for other ways to harness AI, and I have outlined a few below.

Throughout the text below, I’ll refer to the instructions I give ChatGPT as ‘Prompts,’ though they’re also known as ‘inputs,’ ‘instructions,’ or ‘queries.’

Likewise, the answers I receive from ChatGPT will be called ‘Responses,’ but they’re often referred to as ‘outputs,’ ‘replies,’ or ‘solutions.’

To aid understanding, ‘Prompts’ are shown in blue and ‘Responses’ are shown in red.

Let’s take one step back. On the off chance that you haven’t yet got ChatGPT, here’s how to get it – in its own words. I simply gave it the prompt, “Please give me step-by-step instructions that I can give to a friend to tell them how to get ChatGPT for themselves.” Here’s how it responded:

Here’s a straightforward guide you can share with your friend to help them get set up with ChatGPT:

1. Go to the OpenAI Website:

• Visit [https://chat.openai.com/](https://chat.openai.com/).

2. Create an Account or Log In:

• If you’re new, click **Sign Up** and create an account using your email address, Google, or Microsoft account.
• If you already have an OpenAI account, simply click **Log In** and enter your credentials.

3. Choose a Plan

• Free Plan:** By default, the free plan gives access to GPT-3.5.
• Upgrade to ChatGPT Plus (Optional):** For access to GPT-4, click “Upgrade to Plus” in the settings (bottom-left corner on desktop) or in the app, and follow the payment steps. It costs $20 per month.

4. Start Chatting

• After signing in, you’ll be taken directly to the chat interface. Simply type your questions or prompts in the text box at the bottom of the screen and hit “Enter” to start a conversation.

5. Use the Mobile App (Optional)

• If you’d like to access ChatGPT on your phone, download the “ChatGPT app” from the App Store (for iPhone) or Google Play (for Android). Then, log in with the account you created.

And that’s it! They’re ready to start using ChatGPT.

When I first got to this point, I was like a child in a candy shop – I wanted to try everything.

I asked it to write an article of about 1,000 words on the Book of Genesis in the Bible. No problem. It came back with 1,060 words of beautifully crafted text, complete with thoughtful sub-headings.

I asked it to condense the article to 300 words. No problem – 299 words of perfection.

I asked it to condense it to 20 words, and got: “Genesis introduces creation, human sin, and God’s covenant, focusing on faith and redemption through stories of early patriarchs.”

I asked it to condense to 5 words and got: “Genesis: Creation, sin, covenant, faith, redemption.”

I was overwhelmed, amazed, transfixed, bewildered, and I was already a fan for life.

It used to be that whenever I wanted information about something technical or complicated, my first port of call was Google but now it seemed that ChatGPT might offer something much more personal.  I made it my mission to get to know it better.

ChatGPT and I became quite chummy. I started my days by opening it and typing, ‘Good morning, ChatGPT,’ and it invariably came back with ‘Good morning, Colin! How can I assist you today?’

I know what you’re thinking – that’s a completely idiotic thing to do and a complete waste of time!  But for me, it sets the scene. Here is a wonderful tool I can regard as a friendly work colleague. It is eager to work for me 24 hours a day; it is a font of knowledge, and it is never confrontational. How many of us are lucky enough to have a friend like that?

If it was going to be nice to me then the least I could do was reciprocate its kindness.

Even more impressive is that ChatGPT does all of this for less than £20.00 a month – the office cat costs considerably more than that to run.

By the way, there is a free version of ChatGPT, but I wouldn’t recommend it – the paid version does so much more and will repay the investment many times over.

Whether you have a hobby website where you write about ‘Flying Kites in the Maldives’ or a business website dealing with ‘Blockchain Sharding for Scalability’, there’s no doubt that ChatGPT can write an article for you. What’s more, it will almost certainly get all its facts straight, and it will definitely not have any grammar, spelling, or punctuation errors.

Too good to be true? Not if you’re just trying to impress your friends, family, or work colleagues – but if you intend to publish your article on the Internet you need to take a little care.  See ‘AI and SEO’

Our internal documents have accumulated over the years, and several needed updating. Running them through ChatGPT proved invaluable – it corrected punctuation, spelling, and grammar flawlessly while rephrasing sections to make the content clearer and more understandable.

Some documents were so poorly worded that ChatGPT initially struggled to interpret them! Instead of feeling embarrassed by asking a colleague to review these drafts, I found ChatGPT’s approach much more congenial.  Instead of laughing at my inadequacies, it simply asked clarifying questions, allowing me to improve the documents without involving anyone else. Job done!

Over the past few months, I’ve frequently used ChatGPT to help rewrite text, and I’ve noticed that it becomes more like me all the time!  It now seems to understand what I’m aiming to achieve with my writing. Specifically, when I ask for a rewrite, it doesn’t alter my style into “ChatGPTese.” Intrigued by this, I gave it this prompt:

You have helped me correct a great deal of articles recently. How do you know what to change and what not to change?

This was its response:

I’m glad to hear the corrections have been helpful! When editing, I aim to preserve your original voice and intentions, making only those adjustments that enhance clarity, flow, or accuracy. Here’s how I decide what to change:

1. Clarity and Readability: If a sentence could be made clearer or more concise, I rephrase it to improve readability without altering your intended message.
2. Flow and Structure: I look for ways to ensure the article flows smoothly from one idea to the next, rearranging or adjusting sentences when necessary.
3. Grammar and Syntax: I correct grammatical errors, punctuation, or syntax issues that might make the article sound less polished.
4. Style Consistency: I aim to maintain a consistent tone and style, adjusting only if certain parts deviate noticeably. Since you have a conversational tone, I try to keep that throughout.
5. Preserving Original Voice: Finally, I avoid changes that would alter your unique style or perspective, ensuring that edits enhance rather than change your message.

I strive to make sure each revision feels true to what you want to say – just more polished and easier to read!

OK, I’ll admit that I was a little miffed when it told me that it was “more polished” than me but what are friends for if not to point out your flaws?

It seems that the machine now knows more about my writing than I know myself.  It knows that I have a “conversational tone,” and it tries “not to alter my unique style or perspective”.  What’s more, it continuously strives to improve me.

Now might be a good time to remind you that this chummy friend of mine does all of this for a mere $20.00 a month.

At school, my highest maths accolade was passing GCSE maths, and this only because I had a brilliant teacher. But running a business requires spreadsheets and spreadsheets often require complex things. Over the years, I have wrestled with if statements and concatenations and trimming but to be honest I have never known the difference between formulas, expressions and functions.

Thankfully my good friend who resides somewhere in ‘The Cloud” understands all these things inside out.  All I have to do is frame my questions in such a way that they are understandable, and it does the rest for me.

Let’s walk through a typical use case:

I want to keep track of the rolling 7-day average of subscribers to my website. Here’s how my spreadsheet is structured:

So I asked:  I need help creating an Excel formula. In row 1, I have consecutive dates starting from cell B1, and in row 2, I have the daily subscriber numbers. In row 3, starting from cell H3, I want to calculate a 7-day rolling average of daily subscribers up to and including the date shown in row 1.

Today’s date is given in cell J1. Please ensure that if today’s date is greater than the date in row 1, the formula should show nothing in row 3. Could you provide a formula for cell h3 that I can replicate across row 3?

Chat GPT obligingly comes back to me with the following formula to go in cell H3:

=IF(H$1 > $J$1, “”, IF(COLUMN(H1) < 8, “”, AVERAGE(OFFSET(H2, 0, -6, 1, 7))))

Complicated, right?  But that doesn’t matter because it works!  When I copy and paste the formula into cell H3 and replicate it across row 3, here’s the result:

The key to success lies in giving ChatGPT clear instructions. You may need to experiment a bit to ensure it understands exactly what you’re looking for. If the formulas don’t work right away, don’t get discouraged – just refine your prompt and try again, as you would when clarifying with a person.

Even if you’re comfortable with maths and formulas, you might still occasionally turn to ChatGPT for help with syntax corrections.

In our Jigthings business, I had a formula that just wouldn’t work, so I asked ChatGPT to sort it out.  This was the prompt:

Please look at the following formula and let me know if you can see a syntax error:

=IF(‘Amazon FBA Actual ‘!YF11=”x”,’Amazon FBA Potential’!YF$13*$E11’Amazon FBA Actual ‘!YF11)

This was the response: 

Yes, I can see a syntax error in your formula. You’re missing a comma between $E11 and ‘Amazon FBA Actual ‘!YF11 in the IF function’s false part. 

And that was it! Adding the comma made the formula work perfectly. What I had wrestled with for over an hour, ChatGPT spotted in less than 10 seconds.

ChatGPT has become much more than just a tool; it’s like the tireless, ever-helpful colleague I never knew I needed (and it doesn’t even ask for coffee breaks!). From document polishing, error-spotting, and even grasping my writing style, it’s saved me time, energy, and a few headaches along the way. Sure, AI has its quirks and limitations, but with clear prompts and a sprinkle of patience, it’s proven its worth many times over.

Let’s finish for now with a quote from Pedro Domingos: ‘AI will not replace us, it will amplify us.’

Colin King – CEO of HR Quizzes