WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT AI - PART 2

How exactly does generative AI work?

Generative AI enables tools to create written work, images and even audio in response to prompts from users.

To get those responses, several Big Tech companies have developed their own large language models trained on vast amounts of online data. The scope and purpose of these data sets can vary. For example, the version of ChatGPT that went public last year was only trained on data up until 2021 (it’s now more up to date).

These models work through a method called deep learning, which learns patterns and relationships between words, so it can make predictive responses and generate relevant outputs to user prompts.

How is generative AI different from AGI?

As impressive as some generative AI services may seem, they essentially just do pattern matching. These tools can mimic the writing of others or make predictions about what words might be relevant in their responses based on all the data they’ve previously been trained on.

AGI, on the other hand, promises something more ambitious — and scary.

AGI — short for artificial general intelligence — refers to technology that can perform intelligent tasks such as learning, reasoning and adapting to new situations in the way that humans do. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has teased the possibility of a superintelligent AGI that could go on to change the world or perhaps backfire and end humanity.

For the moment, however, AGI remains purely a hypothetical, so don’t worry too much about it.

How much of the AI gold rush is just hype?

Anytime there’s an excess of buzz around a technology, it’s good to be skeptical — and there is certainly a lot of that here. Investor fascination with AI has helped push Wall Street back into a bull market, despite lingering economic uncertainty.

Not all AI tools are equally useful and many companies will certainly tout AI features and strategies simply to tap into the current hype cycle. But even in just the past six months, AI has already shown potential to change how people do numerous everyday tasks.

One of the biggest selling points around AI chatbots, for example, is their ability to make people more productive. Earlier this year, some real estate agents told CNN that ChatGPT saved them hours of work not only by writing listings for homes for sale but also looking up the permitted uses for certain land and calculating what mortgage payments or the return on investment might be for a client, which typically involve formulas and mortgage calculators.

Artificial intelligence is also much broader than ChatGPT and other generative AI tools. Even if you think AI chatbots are annoying or might be a fad, the underlying technology will continue to power meaningful advances in products and services for years to come.