ChatGPT: how does it work and what is it? It is practically impossible not to have ever heard of ChatGPT: after a few weeks of activity and a lot of media hype, the fact that the software for creating content had been blocked in Italy made even more news, only to return after adapting to the European legislation on privacy. In fact, a stop that lasted very little: today, the famous chat developed by Openai, based on a generative language model, is perfectly and easily usable. ChatGPT can write content that can be used in numerous contexts, carry out automatic translation, provide information, and generate responses in real-time. ChatGPT’s vast range of features is much broader. Let’s try to understand together how ChatGPT works and what it is for.
What can ChatGPT do?
To quickly answer the question we can say that ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence software that focuses on the interaction between computers and human language. In other words, it is a chatbot, i.e. software based on dialogue, capable of adapting to different styles of interaction, also defined as a generative language model. To be more specific, its operation is based on GPT-3 ( generative pre-trained transformer 3 ), a natural language processing model based on machine learning.
The software was ” trained ” by feeding it a huge amount of text (taken from books, articles, websites, and dialogues between humans…). Thanks to its 175 billion parameters, a chatbot can generate texts very similar to those produced by a human being and provide appropriate – and original – answers to the questions asked.
Who created ChatGPT?
ChatGPT was developed by OpenAI, an artificial intelligence research organisation founded in San Francisco in 2015 by five entrepreneurs, including Elon Musk. In particular, the person who “invented” the software is Sam Altman, an American computer scientist, entrepreneur, and business manager born in 1985.
GPT chat how it works
ChatGpt was trained starting from the Instruct GPT or GPT-3.5 models which are particularly optimised thanks to the intervention of real trainers. This contributed greatly to improving the fluidity and naturalness of the responses. In mid-March 2023 OpenAI launched GPT-4, defined as even faster and more creative: it can even write a text conforming to a certain literary style. What generally amazes those who try to chat with this bot is the revolutionary ability to interact with users with well-articulated answers, light years away from those given by existing artificial intelligence software.
Ohhh, and let’s also bear in mind the new recent GPT-4.5 – read more here
ChatGPT how to use it
Before trying to use ChatGpt and understanding how it works, you need to know that there can be many uses. For example, do you want to translate a text from one language to another? Perfect, ChatGpt can do it for you. Chat can be used to create textual compositions on any specific topic, thanks to the large amount of data and information at its disposal. The software has countless features, from automated assistance to the generation of more or less complex texts. You can have them write a post for a social media site, a set of responses for automated customer service, or even a theatre script. Furthermore, ChatGpt can generate summaries of complex documents or scripts/code in various programming languages.
ChatGPT allows you to engage in conversation as you would in a typical chat. You can ask ChatGPT to ‘tell us a made-up story’ or explain the events that led to the French Revolution, as well as write us a song or a recipe. In this regard, the new GPT-4 version can also receive visual input, for example, a photo of the contents of our refrigerator, and offer us a recipe with the ingredients found. Clever hey!
In which areas to use ChatGPT
ChatGPT can be used in different contexts, in everyday life and on a professional level. Basically, you can use it whenever you need to create content. We, therefore, think of blogs and websites, social pages, information or promotional brochures, notices, competitions, procedures, and instructions. In the content marketing sector, it is suitable for identifying specific paragraphs, suggesting keywords, and structuring an editorial plan. The range of sectors in which it can be useful is therefore quite wide. All it takes is, as we will see, to use its creative power wisely.
What can you ask ChatGPT?
You can ask ChatGPT literally anything as the program is formulated to answer questions of all kinds, but it is important to formulate the request well (called a prompt). In fact, natural language processing code works well if it receives the correct inputs. ChatGPT can generate well-formulated answers if it receives well-posed questions. Furthermore, machine learning-based software can learn from conversations, so the answers can be refined from time to time as you go further and more specifically.
How reliable is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is quite reliable, thanks to the operation we have illustrated above. However, it can always happen that I make a little mistake from time to time. Therefore, carefully check the texts it produces before using them. However, the advice is to take inspiration or use some parts of the content, with criteria. Furthermore, it must be taken into account that ChatGPT (version 3.5) is only up-to-date as of January 2022 when relating to current events. So, if you try to ask to write a text about the earthquake in Turkey or the latest developments in the war in Ukraine, you will not get a response. In general, if you have to deal with important issues, for example, related to regulations, legislation, procedures to follow, and current affairs, Chat GPT is not sufficiently reliable.
How is ChatGPT used in Italy?
The Italian Privacy Guarantor, in the first days of April 2023, opened an investigation contesting the illicit collection of data from Italian users and ordered the immediate cessation of their processing by OpenAI. Italy was the first country in the world to block the software. What was contested was the lack of adequate information for users and the absence of a legal basis that justifies both the collection and storage of personal data.
In fact, precisely by its nature, the software learns from conversations with human beings, continuously improving its responses. Again according to the Guarantor, no filter could guarantee access only to those over 13 years of age. The software vulnerability emerged on March 20, 2023, when due to a technical problem, the history of users’ questions and even part of the payment details used for the ChatGpt Plus subscription were shown.
However, the stop did not last long: at the end of April 2023, ChatGPT became accessible again also from Italy because Open AI agreed to adapt to European legislation on privacy. There is therefore no need to follow any particular procedures: just connect to the site and register. As you will see, access is very simple, as is how the chat works: you ask a question and you get an answer.
How to log in
To access Chat GPT you will be required to register: follow the guided procedure which, through a Google or Microsoft account, will take you to the ChatGpt page where you can have fun interacting with the software. The use is very simple and intuitive, you will only find a command line in the dashboard. It essentially involves asking a question and pressing send: the bot will return the answer.
How much does ChatGPT cost?
ChatGPT is free: just register by providing your details. If you want to experiment with the software and produce simple texts of all kinds, you won’t need to spend anything. As we will see immediately afterwards, however, there is also a richer and more complex paid version.
What is ChatGPT plus
This is the paid subscription plan ($20 per month) provided by OpenAI which gives the possibility of faster access to new features, greater response speed than the free version, and availability even if many users are using the site. Through ChatGPT Plus it is also possible to change the models. You can use the faster Default model, the Legacy, and the new GPT-4 model. But be careful: the subscription is not immediate, you need to sign up to a waiting list and when the subscription plan is available you can activate it.
Will ChatGPT change the world?
The most famous intelligent writing program made its disruptive entry into the world a few months ago and there are already those who believe that some job categories could be at risk. Can ChatGPT be a risk or an opportunity? In some cases, it may no longer make sense (in terms of costs) to hire humans and it may be very cost-effective to use software. An example could be all the jobs related to the production of texts, whether they are articles for a website or the description of products on an e-commerce site. Again, programmers could risk jumping out of their seats: software could be much faster than them.
