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What is AI, really?
Most people meet AI as a chat assistant that writes, summarises and answers questions, or as a tool that makes pictures. These lessons are about those tools.
A chat assistant is built on a large language model: a program trained on a vast amount of text to predict which words are likely to come next. It is very good at producing fluent text, which makes it useful for drafting, rewording, summarising, explaining and brainstorming.
It is not a search engine, unless it has been connected to one. It is not a person, and it does not know things the way you do. It is not always right.
Three things to know before you use it
- It can be fluently wrong. Check anything that matters. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre puts it plainly: these models "can get things wrong and 'hallucinate' incorrect facts".
- What you type may be kept. Do not paste passwords, money details, other people's personal information or confidential work.
- You are responsible for what you do with it. The assistant drafts; you decide.
Next: What does a chat assistant actually do?