[techtalk] WEB TOOL - Exploring the Fascinating World of Artificial Intelligence

Wed Jun 7 08:25:42 PDT 2023

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Webinars for You

·    June 14: [INTERNET] Understanding Your Options in Cloud Storage and How to Find Your Files Easily [3 pm ET for 1 hour]

·    June 28: [EXCEL] Linking Data and Text Between Documents to Auto Update [3 pm ET for 1 hour]

·    July 12: [CANVA] Create Stunning Presentations with Canva and the MagicDesign Feature [3 pm ET for 1 hour]

·    July 26: [WEB TOOL] Create Digital Flipbooks to Engage, Teach, Promote Key Messages [3 pm ET for 1 hour]

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[AI webinar]

Upcoming AI Webinar:

Exploring Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Everyday Life

If you're intrigued by the article below, join us on August 9th. In this webinar, we’ll help you understand several terms and platforms relating to AI, such as OpenAI, ChatGPT, DALL.E, the New Bing, Google’s Bard and more.

Register for the AI Webinar Here<https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001sd2ZawMY72nQJ-ASypyxJq-G4eAfQEZbr1Z0cLjvSc6b0rIt83xeSzWeoZj7-KpEh3PULMemRx5N7kvZ-dUvfG5sUl8qJIJUJbTYrgLA2v2gepq7hMno67RZDPtqZ-bpSoYm88zMyIC-OZSStjxNZIItM-QJSP1GQLLnEZ-y6bncYMolKVDXGdDXKe7yIv2SHJVrm1jShRX9ab2bdzie4YoErsDl8JLn-srIK0o5OUE=&c=UUixAZO1d3kuzO4gv_J7GoDO7-kLaQxsEWlSfqVS4aSOOd4s0_T0NA==&ch=SlG12YSHXokcHfuD9uGDqmcGwKv8rYW0gXYRvjcXRasqoTL_vCrAFw==>

WEB TOOL - Exploring the Fascinating World of Artificial Intelligence

Intermediate

[AI]

You've probably been hearing a lot about Artificial Intelligence (AI) lately and tools like ChatGPT. It might make you wonder what it’s all about and how this technology can be applied in your life.

You may not realize it, but we’ve been using AI for years. Every time you ask a virtual assistant like Siri or Alexa to do something for you, you’re using artificial intelligence. Maybe you open your smartphone with Face ID. Or, when you pick a movie on Netflix from the "suggested for you" list – you guessed it, this feature is powered by AI. So, it's already a part of our daily routines.

However, with the “recent” launch (late 2022) of the powerful and innovative platform called ChatGPT (from a company called OpenAi) a new type of technology (generative AI) is exploding! (Yes, we’ll explain more about “generative” in this article.) You may have seen that this type of AI is already integrated into the Microsoft Bing search engine, Canva.com and even Constant Contact – to name only a few recognizable web tools.

So buckle up and get ready to read about this groundbreaking technology! There are a lot of techie terms and background details about how Generative AI works, but we’re going to do our best in this article to boil it down in conversational language that is easy to understand and apply.

In Part I of this topic (below), we’ll look at just what Generative AI is, introduce you to ChatGPT, and show you how someone (without a lot of tech experience) can use it to make work easier. In Part II next week, we’ll introduce several platforms that use Generative AI and demonstrate them for you.

What is the Difference Between Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI?

Let's first make sure we have a general understanding of this technology. There’s a LOT to it, but here’s a basic understanding.

Artificial Intelligence is a broad term that encompasses many technologies and approaches in creating intelligent systems.

·    With “machine learning” it can analyze data and detect patterns to make conclusions (example: customized social media ads just for you).
·    Just like we learn from experience, AI learns from lots of data injected into servers and uses millions of special instructions called algorithms (which are like step-by-step rules or patterns) that tell it how to use the data to solve problems or make decisions.

While AI can detect patterns and make conclusions, “Generative AI” takes it a step further:

[brain]
·    It is a subset of Artificial Intelligence.
·    It uses machine learning AND deep learning algorithms and “generates” entirely new and original content in the form of text, images, computer code and even video and audio.
·    Through different platforms, you ask the Generative AI chatbot a question and it returns an answer by mimicking human imagination and creativity. It is trained to predict which word follows the next in any given sentence.
·    CAUTION: Because Generative AI doesn’t pull from a database of facts – instead, it uses the ability to write plausible-sounding statements (based on billions and billions of information that it was “fed”), you may need to fact-check your results.

How Can You Use Generative AI?

This technology isn't just for the tech giants to use anymore. Through a variety of platforms now available, anyone can use these "large language models" (LLM) in many ways.

To demonstrate how this "scary cool" process works, we’re going to show you using ChatGPT, a platform created by the organization  https://openai.com<https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001sd2ZawMY72nQJ-ASypyxJq-G4eAfQEZbr1Z0cLjvSc6b0rIt83xeSzWeoZj7-KpEvF_qwVIlJ6as99_qMhwvwaJDwjQzLz9-2QO9Rr4mzGCBiBnwoO9XydB3-arhc7SVdPLbTbjrpCg=&c=UUixAZO1d3kuzO4gv_J7GoDO7-kLaQxsEWlSfqVS4aSOOd4s0_T0NA==&ch=SlG12YSHXokcHfuD9uGDqmcGwKv8rYW0gXYRvjcXRasqoTL_vCrAFw==>. (In Part II of this article, we'll introduce several other AI tools).

Get Started with ChatGPT

[https://files.constantcontact.com/ee1208b4001/8c729013-39d7-413f-8c24-c4f94fbe9974.png]

This "chatbot" was launched by OpenAI on November 30, 2022, and has been the fastest-growing app of all time. In the first five days it was launched, it accrued over one million users!

Currently, public use is free while it's in a beta testing environment (a research and feedback-gathering stage). There is also a paid subscription version of it called ChatGPT Plus. This model gives you GPT-4, a more advanced system offering faster interactions and more useful responses.

·    To set up a free account, go to https://openai.com/<https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001sd2ZawMY72nQJ-ASypyxJq-G4eAfQEZbr1Z0cLjvSc6b0rIt83xeSzWeoZj7-KpEvF_qwVIlJ6as99_qMhwvwaJDwjQzLz9-2QO9Rr4mzGCBiBnwoO9XydB3-arhc7SVdPLbTbjrpCg=&c=UUixAZO1d3kuzO4gv_J7GoDO7-kLaQxsEWlSfqVS4aSOOd4s0_T0NA==&ch=SlG12YSHXokcHfuD9uGDqmcGwKv8rYW0gXYRvjcXRasqoTL_vCrAFw==> and click the Sign up button to create your login with an email address (or join through Google, Microsoft or Apple ID's).
·    Once your account is ready, just sign in and go to ChatGPT.
·    The tool is simple. In the center are examples and instructions. In the lower bar, in the Send a message window, type in your question, request, etc. and hit the green Send button.

[ChatGPT]

·    Wait a few seconds while it processes. (Some questions take longer.) The results will appear on your screen.

[Chat GPT]

Next, you have choices:

·    If you like the response and want to copy it, click the clipboard icon on the right to copy and paste the text to a Doc, or other tool.
·    If you want the response to be re-written, click the Regenerate response button at the bottom for a different description of your request.
·    In the left column your Chats will be saved. You can 1) click the pencil icon to rename it, 2) choose the upload button to generate a link to share it with others, or 3) click the trash can to delete it from your saved chats.

Before we get creative and list a whole bunch of ways you can use Generative AI, you might be wondering how this is different from searching for something using an Internet browser like Google or Bing.

For example, you could go to Google and ask: "What are 3 benefits of lady bugs?"

The search engine will crawl the Internet, index and rank relevant results and display them for you to review. You'll see links to articles that have information on lady bugs.

[search]

When you use a tool that is based on Generative AI (like ChatGPT) the results will be returned in human-like language in the form of answering questions, summarizing text, and generating written content. It’s like talking to an expert on the topic. (Someone who has read through the articles for you to identify the relevant information.)

Here are the results to the same question about lady bugs.

[lady bugs]

Wow! Now you can take the output, edit it to make it your own, and do any needed fact-checking.

Ways You Can Use Generative AI To Get a Jump Start on Creativity

Now that we know the way Generative AI works, how can you use it to save time or get inspiration?

·    Ask it a general question or to explain a complex subject.
·    Suggest a topic and request it to give you an outline for an article or blog post.
·    Paste in a short article or book description and ask for a summary paragraph.
·    Give it a presentation, workshop or webinar description and ask for a creative title.
·    Plug in your resume details and get an updated version.
·    Request a social media post based on an article or presentation topic.
·    Ask for jokes on a particular topic.
·    Request it to write a poem based on a subject or keywords.

There are so many options! It’s just fun to play around and see what results you are given.

For example, I wanted to create a video with three productivity tips. I asked ChatGPT for a video script for that topic. The results included not only the dialog, but suggestions for the background, scene transitions and other visual elements! (see image below)

[https://files.constantcontact.com/ee1208b4001/f443820c-3516-47a1-8beb-201cfb1cdcba.png]

TIP: You can control the response by adding more specific directions, such as:

·    Give me 5 tips on ______ .
·    Write a 250 word article on ______.
·    Compose a 12-line poem on _____.
·    Write a 300 word response on _____ at a 6th grade reading level.

Generative AI Chatbot Limitations

There are of course restrictions and considerations when using ChatGPT and other Generative AI tools:

·    These platforms will be pulling from different sources of information and may or may not be up to date. For instance, ChatGPT data ends in 2021. Again, this is a rapidly evolving field.
·    Some information may not be accurate. Be sure to check your results. Along those lines, a warning from James Vincent (a scientist in the field), "These AI tools are vast autocomplete systems, trained to predict which word follows the next in any given sentence. As such, they have no hard-coded database of 'facts' to draw on -- just the ability to write plausible-sounding statements. This means they have a tendency to present false information as truth since whether a given sentence sounds plausible does not guarantee its factuality."

Using AI Responsibly

[robots]

And then there are the legal and ethical questions about the information that is generated by these tools that you might want to claim as your own. AI Ethics and AI Law is currently evolving as this technology becomes more widely used. For now, the best advice is to treat AI Generative content like research. Use it for ideas and inspiration rather than word-for-word text.

[https://files.constantcontact.com/ee1208b4001/f8f1ecc8-4884-4c21-8ed0-cf647e6db944.png]

Communications: Talking

Conversing with adamant disagreers

I bet you've come across individuals who simply do not see the world the same way you do, right? Whether it's a relative, a colleague, or a neighbor we often find ourselves on the opposite side of the fence.

One of our Tech-Talk readers requested some ideas on how to handle situations like this. So we did our research. Here are two concepts you need to understand and one technique you can use.

Two Concepts to Understand

First of all, human beings have a built-in mechanism that has us ignoring facts that are inconsistent with our worldview. We all have it. It's called cognitive dissonance. This mechanism makes us highly reluctant to change our views. For instance, picture someone who believes the world is flat. Cognitive dissonance would have this individual ignoring any fact that contradicts that belief.

And second, when someone presents contradictory evidence ... you know, challenges the worldview ... this counter-action only serves to harden the position.  It's called the Backfire Effect.

It is astonishing but true: when your deepest convictions are challenged by contradictory evidence, your beliefs only get stronger. Facts may be stubborn things, but minds are even more stubborn.

One Technique to Use

OK, we know lecturing people won’t help, right? So how can we shift their thinking?

Socrates had the answer! It's called the Socratic Method - asking questions ... a technique that actually works to alter people's worldviews.

So, if you really want to change someone’s mind, ask them questions. Help them consider their underlying beliefs and knowledge. This process forces people to think critically about their own belief systems.

The result is, that with this cooperative dialogue, an individual can reach a new conclusion on their own. Is it easy? No, but patience, thought and a little preparation can pay off with this type of productive conversation.

[https://files.constantcontact.com/ee1208b4001/d1c53f47-42c2-409c-8459-7cd3bd19b026.png]

Partnering Wishlist

In your wildest dreams, what additional resource would you like to have available ... as a potential partner to Tech-Talk?

Maybe it's a web tool that you'd like integrated or a series of courses or online database. If you could have anything, what is one thing it could be?

Let us know here, please!

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Darci Hanning, MLIS (she/her/hers)
Public Library Consultant / CE Coordinator
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State Library of Oregon | Library Support and Development Services
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