ChatGPT not completely useless
By DW Davis
@DWDavis (25812)
Pikeville, North Carolina
June 8, 2023 2:19pm CST
I know. The statement in the title seems to go against all I've ever written about AI. Please keep in mind that my distrust and disdain for AI centers on its use by would-be writers to take shortcuts in producing fiction.
Today, as an experiment, I found a use for ChatGPT. In the interest of full disclosure, I got the idea from reading about someone else who tried the same thing with good results.
K and I are planning a trip to visit Son1 in California next December. She wants to drive in the car and stay at KOA campgrounds in cabins along the way. We are taking the dogs with us, so this would probably work out better for them.
I asked ChatGPT to plan the trip taking I-40 across the country and staying at KOAs near the interstate along the way. I asked it to make 2 plans, one averaging 500 miles a day and the other 600 miles a day. In less time than it took me to type in the request, the AI responded with two workable plans.
I have to admit, I'm impressed. It would have taken me a lot longer to work out the distances on Google Earth and then find KOAs with lodging near the desired stopping points.
Why, you might ask, are we not taking the camper? Economics. 2,600 miles at 34 mpg in the car is much more economical than 9 mpg in the truck pulling the 5th wheel.
Does knowing AI can help with planning like this improve your view of the technology, are you against it no matter what, or were you already in favor of it?
16 people like this
12 responses
@kaylachan (57687)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
8 Jun
I've never tried it, but I'm not against AI in general. Then again, you gave it a fairly simple task, so I'm not surprised by the result.
2 people like this
@kaylachan (57687)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
8 Jun
@DWDavis I hear it's good at that.
2 people like this
@allknowing (130066)
• India
9 Jun
The OpenAI CEO Sam Altman does not think all answers given by ChatGPT are correct
https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/openai-ceo-sam-altman-does-not-trust-chatgpts-answers-reveals-plans-of-building-ai-startups-in-india-2390454-2023-06-08
1 person likes this
@allknowing (130066)
• India
9 Jun
@DWDavis And yet there is a fear it will replace what we as individuals can produce using our brain.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25812)
• Pikeville, North Carolina
9 Jun
@allknowing This fear has been fed by science fiction stories dating back probably a hundred years and extending through to modern movies like the Terminator series or I, Robot.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25812)
• Pikeville, North Carolina
9 Jun
The thing about AI is, like a child, it only knows what it's been taught. It has no discernment and cannot distinguish between fact and fiction. I you created a character with a detailed biography and told the AI they were a real person, the AI would accept your claim.
@RasmaSandra (73444)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
8 Jun
Never tried it and don't think this is the route I want to go, I do my writing and poetry to keep me brain active and so to say train my brain,
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25812)
• Pikeville, North Carolina
10 Jun
@RasmaSandra Do you know how they employ AI for their art? Do they just publish what the AI produces, or do they use it as a starting point?
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (73444)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
9 Jun
@DWDavis I know someone on FB who uses it for art
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@DWDavis (25812)
• Pikeville, North Carolina
10 Jun
@RubyHawk At this point, I double-check every result I get from AI against another source. For example, I looked up every KOA on the list ChatGPT gave me to ensure it was where the AI said it was and that it had the appropriate accommodations available.
1 person likes this
@JimBo452020 (42629)
• United Kingdom
8 Jun
Now you have given me an idea to help me plan with our next trip or maybe the one after the next one.
But I have no idea how to even go about using chatgtp
I think that the 7 months I hardly looked at the internet didn't help.
I am not against it simply because I really do know nothing about it
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25812)
• Pikeville, North Carolina
8 Jun
Using ChatGPT is straightforward. You log into the site, register as a user (I think the basic version is still free), and start typing in questions. It will recall your previous question and its answers, so you can change and narrow your parameters.
1 person likes this
@JimBo452020 (42629)
• United Kingdom
8 Jun
@DWDavis
Thanks
I shall let you know how I get on.
I have struggled arranging the two holidays we have had so far this year.
Oh 9 miles per gallon sucks
Even if your gallons are smaller than ours lol
My scooter had 74mpg the other day.
I was driving very carefully
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (169966)
• United States
10 Jun
That sounds like an ambitious trip. I would be worried about doing it in December though. Several years ago now we drove from VA to NM and back in Feb. Got in a terrible blizzard in Northern Arkansas, going all the way up into Southern Illinois. It was coming down! Very hard to get a motel room too, as everyone else had the same idea. At least you have your camper.
1 person likes this
@crossbones27 (48427)
• Mojave, California
8 Jun
Its a good point you make. I always thought AI can and will be helpful in some regards. Technically I am not so worried about AI itself. Sure, I imagine it can and may go haywire at times by itself.As long as can be corrected that should not be that much of an issue. The big issue is what people will use it for and how they will program AI. People are always the problem.
Also if you coming to visit California. You should check this place out if close by where you were planning go. I saw the video and I was like, man I live here and never seen the lost highway. How cool. The bad thing is close to LA which means a lot of traffic getting there but once in area, the guy says there is hardly any traffic and the view is so stunning.
Either way, I hope you guys have a blast and sure you will be updating us on your trip.
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1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (86754)
• United States
9 Jun
I love all of it..glad you found it useful.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (156157)
• United States
9 Jun
That's really cool. I'm against so-called writers that use it. I don't know enough about it to comment other than that. Have a great weekend.
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