Are you someone who’s hesitant to use AI, or are you completely dependent on it? On today’s internet, AI is unavoidable, but people are generally of two minds about it. Some people use it as a replacement for writing, drawing, googling, and anything else, and some people are completely against using it in any situation. However, as with any great shift in technology, the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Let’s talk about it.
There are a variety of AI tools available right now, including Chat GPT, Stable Diffusion, and even Google now gives you an AI Answer upon searching. For anyone who doesn’t know, these tools work by giving them a prompt, such as a question or request, which they then answer for you using data from the internet. This can be very helpful, as since AI is trained off of so much data, it can very often give accurate and helpful answers to your questions. However, as with any technology, AI is not perfect and should be used with heavy consideration.
So how should you use AI? Well, AI is most useful when checking information or asking for rough advice. If you have a question you need answered, it can be a great idea to give it to Chat GPT and see what answers it gives. However, it’s also a good idea to think about what it says and, if you’re not sure about the answer it gives, seek other sources of information. Often, AI will provide its sources in its answer, so it can be a good idea to check its sources and make sure they’re not being misquoted and that the source is trustworthy.
Similarly, it’s good to use AI for ideas or advice in creative ventures. If you’re trying to draft a social media post or write a story, it could be helpful to ask an AI for some sort of original idea or direction. However, since AI is trained off of already existing data, following its direction completely might be a bad idea, as you end up copying somebody else’s work, so it should always be treated as a starting point and not a blueprint.
Now, what shouldn’t you do with AI? You should not rely on AI to answer all your questions and provide all your information. Like I said, AI is not perfect, and relying on it to give you the answer every time can lead to you being misinformed and uneducated about whatever you ask it. Even worse than that though, an overreliance on AI can lead to a decrease in critical thinking skills or creativity in the user. It’s always important to seek information yourself and not rely on one single source for a comprehensive pool of knowledge. Questioning things can never hurt.
As for creative pursuits, you should never generate something with AI and pass it off as your own. Doing such a thing is dishonest, and if someone finds out about it, it can lead to your reputation being tarnished. This can go for educational pursuits like generating an essay for class, or professional, such as passing off AI art as your own or generating a speech for a meeting. No one wants to work with someone who can’t put in the effort to write something themselves.
Hopefully this has helped answer some questions about AI and the ways to and not to use it. Remember, technology is always evolving, and you don’t want to be left behind, but it’s also good to be responsible with these things and not let them control your life.