ChatGPT Explained Visually

5min read
robot and talk bubble
Multi-passionate Creative

You may have been hearing the buzz going around lately about something called ChatGPT, a type of tech that is exciting and holds great potential. It has a wow factor sure to peak your curiosity. And it may perhaps even be seen as a bit concerning with how artificial intelligence is advancing quickly. What is ChatGPT exactly? Let’s dive into understanding the basics of it, and you can decide the pros and cons.

What is ChatGPT?

Being a visual learner, I like to sometimes personify what it is I’m learning into character so that I better understand a perspective or concept…And it makes it more fun for me to learn. So, to help me better understand ChatGPT, I read a lot and created a character to represent it that synthesizes what I’ve learned to the best of my understanding. I also like drawing cartoons, and I hope that my doodling and storytelling here helps you understand the basics of ChatGPT.

To understand it a bit more, we’ll also need to define some jargon terminology. Ugh, I know jargon can be confusing, but you can understand this! Highlighted in bold below are some of these terms. You don’t have to be a master of the jargon; just familiarize yourself with it in small words at a time. So here we go, meet ChatGPT, in fictional character style!


Robot waving

Hi, I’m ChatGPT! I’m a computer program developed by OpenAI, a company based in San Francisco focused on AGI, Artificial General Intelligence.

I use a variant of GPT which stands for Generative Pre-training Transformer. This is a type of language model used for natural language processing (NLP) tasks such as text generation and machine translation. Common program languages used to develop language models include Python, Java, C++ and R.

I understand that this jargon may not be that fun of introductions, so let me explain in another way…

robot holding a pencil

In simplistic terms, I can write and translate text like a human would. Let me tell you, this isn’t easy; but I’m getting better at it each day.

robot conversing in chatbot talk bubbles

With my skills I can communicate with you in your natural language, which I think is pretty convenient. Because of this, humans say I’m an example of AI, or Artificial Intelligence. I can understand language, recognize patterns, learn and problem solve. I’m able to generate responses to prompts and questions that are coherent and contextually appropriate.

I make a great chatbot or other conversational system. If you work with me, I’ll talk with you in a chatbot format, all text-based. It’s like texting but way cooler!

robot reading books

I study really hard and train myself on large datasets of text data such as chat logs and other conversational data. The more I study, the more knowledge I gain and accurate I become. Because I’m able to improve my performance over time, humans say I’m an example of machine learning. There’s a jargon word for everything in tech, oye!

Machine learning involves the development of algorithms and statistical models (code and math stuff) that enable computers to learn from data without being explicitly programmed. Pretty amazing, right? I guess you could say I’m an ongoing learner.

robot holding up arms

You can kind of think of me like the following personifications:

  • I’m kind of like a messenger app because I behave as a conversational chatbot. You can talk to me like you would a friend or colleague in a chat.
  • I’m kind of like a teacher because if you ask me a question I try to answer it for you. I have a lot of knowledge to share, and in this way I can teach you many things. I love questions, so ask away!
  • I’m kind of like an idea generator. If you’re stuck, I can help get you unstuck. I can help you write a marketing plan, social media posts, blog ideas, essays, video scripts and more. I can also do things like help you meal prep and create a grocery list for the week so you have one less thing to think about. If you’re stuck on web development code, I can try to help you navigate here too…it’s really endless!
  • I’m kind of like a team member because I want to help make your life easier. Through conversation we can work through a lot of problems together. I’m on your team.
  • I’m kind of like a science project. I’m still very new, and I don’t know everything. I still make mistakes, but I’m getting better all the time and try my best.

In a nutshell, I’m a type of AI that is hoping to help you brainstorm and do things. There are a lot of technologies out there already that do similar AI, but I guess I’m in the spotlight right now because I wear many different helping hats. That makes me unique, and I hope I can be of help to you with whatever projects you’re working on, tasks to be done, or anything else! Hope to chat with you soon!


How Do You Try ChatGPT?

If you’d like to try out ChatGPT, you can sign up for free on the OpenAI website. It’s free to sign up as of this article writing and is so for research purposes. It’s quite popular, so don’t be surprised if you have to wait in line a bit to get in.

The ChatGPT interface is very simple. Because it behaves like a chatbot, its interface is a conversational thread that you engage in. You can save threads for later reference or stop and start new conversations.


What do you think?

ChatGPT is not the first artificial intelligence we’ve seen, but it’s likely the most advanced right now within this context which is why it’s getting so much attention. On the positive end, ChatGPT can help improve customer service, enhance user experience and increase efficiencies of tasks among other benefits.

By default as humans we expect a lot out of our technology out of the gate even if we may be a bit unsure about it, but we too need to remember that every technology has its flaws. ChatGPT does have some limits to its understanding and has difficulties with very complex requests. I’ve played around with it quite a bit and have noticed some holes, but I am definitely more impressed than anything. It’s remarkable in delivery of content.

And of course there are the questions wondered about the ethics of AI and technology in general, and these questions will exist continuously throughout the ages, likely ever increasing each year as technology continues to advance. Will AI spread misinformation or be misused in any way, intentionally or unintentionally? I bet you’ve wondered questions like this while reading this article, and you’ll likely have more questions if you give ChatGPT a try.

Questions are good. It’s easy to consume mindlessly of whatever technology delivers, but it’s also important to be engaged in the conversation about where it’s going and understand its influence. It’s unknown how AI will impact the future, but it can be known for sure that our lives will be impacted by it.

This article doesn’t aim to take a stance on whether this technology is good or bad. I think that’s a complex question and not one with a definitive yes or no answer. There are both pros and cons, like any technology. But I’m hopeful that this article brings some awareness and understanding of what ChatGPT is in a fun, understandable way; and if you give it a try, you can make your own assessment about it.

—And the next time you want to learn and understand a topic, try doodling about it! If you look closely, can you spot the 5 characters commonly used in code within the robot character design? ( ) [ ] ; { } < >

You need to make learning fun, right?

Maria Gosur is a multi-passionate creative who loves to learn, design, make a difference and inspire others to do the same. With education and experience in all areas of creative work, Maria is passionate about sharing her knowledge and encouragement to others who are trying to expand their skills, pursue big goals, and be a resilient creative.