After resisting for a few days I gave in to the charms of chatGPT and Dall-E .
Everything that trends is not a new paradigm. chatGPT launched by openAi.com and its sibling Dall-E have taken internet by storm. They have one more sibling now – Point-E. I have to admit that my initial scepticism has given way to a grudging approval of their prowesses.
I put chatGPT, a chatty bot, through its paces.
First, I asked him (it?) about Ujjayi Pranayam – how to perform it and what its benefits are. It came up with well (google?) researched information. So it saved me a lot of effort of trudging through heavily SEO-optimized and commercial sites that google throws at you in buckets and shovels. As a simple text interface, it avoids flashy images, pop-ups and other internet annoyances. Here is a sample:
Ujjayi pranayama, also known as “victorious breath” or “ocean breath,” is a breathing technique used in yoga practice. To perform Ujjayi pranayama, sit in a comfortable position with your spine straight and your shoulders relaxed. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths to calm your mind. Then, gently contract the muscles at the back of your throat to create a soft hissing sound as you inhale and exhale. Focus on the sound and feeling of your breath as you continue to breathe in and out through your nose. As you become more comfortable with the technique, you can try to lengthen and deepen your breath. It’s important to remember to breathe smoothly and evenly, without forcing or straining your breath.
It saves time if all that you are looking for is quick, concise information on anything that is out there.
Obviously, it is likely to leave out anything that is not mainstream -that’s my impression. If you are researching for any controversial subject it is likely to leave out or underemphasise alternate opinions.
chatGPT did well in-
-converting Shakespearean English to modern English
-make summaries of long-form text
-finding readability issues like complex sentences. But even a free version of grammarly is much better here.
-writing a boring school-essay level article on any given subject
For the same reason, it can be useful for writing reports or making presentation bullet points because they are rarely read.
You will miss insights that come from long years of practice and experience. Like it left out an important instruction that my Pranayam teacher taught me. Don’t rely on it blindly for important decisions or actions like performing Ujjayi Pranayam. Do consult a real knowledgeable person.
Tiktok already has a ‘horror’ show of 15 year old asking chatGPT to make a 1500 word script for video on ‘how to make money (while) in school’ and using some other tools to make it. Teachers and editors have their headaches multiplied.
chatGPT has come a cropper when tasked with creative writing. It always churned out boring stuff. It can’t come up with catchy one-liners or interesting captions. Same for quirky or witty quips.
I read that it can tell jokes, but when I asked to crack jokes using the context of technical content, it came up with some poor stuff. When I pushed it more, it said:
I’m sorry, but as a language model, I am not programmed to create jokes. My primary function is to provide information and assist with tasks such as language translation, summarization, and text generation. Is there anything else I can help with?
I have read that it can do many other things like write software programs, debug them, and train and test AI models on data. But that’s not my stuff.
It is metronomically boring but saves time.
Will chatGPT and its siblings cause a new paradigm of nearly everything? Or will they be merely alternatives to google and some other software applications? Or will the avalanche of useless AI-generated-SEO-optimized-viral-intent content be a bigger disaster than the population explosion?Time alone will tell.
My writing skills are not yet redundant, it seems 🙂
Lead to Regenerate 