Why You Have to Use AI to Follow Your Curiosity and How
That AI in your pocket is the most incredible personal tutor. Embrace it.
Imagine a world where your personal tutor is available 24/7, always ready to help you learn and grow. This is the promise of AI.
Released in late 2022, ChatGPT took over the world in the year that followed. ChatGPT is a large language model (LLM). You talk to it, and it answers. Everyone saw the potential and was filled with both awe and concern.
Whether you’re a professional, a student, or just a curious person, you should use this transformative technology.
I received my master’s in computer science in 2021, specializing in AI. Not in LLMs directly, but I still know some stuff. I use LLMs every day at my software engineering job and have personally witnessed their usefulness. One thing I know for sure:
If you want to actually get smarter, and keep up in the coming years, you HAVE to make use of the technology.
AI Apprehension
Like any groundbreaking technology, AI has met with initial resistance, and for good reason. Considering the ramifications of AI is a gargantuan task. Artists, writers, programmers, lawyers. Everyone shows signs of apprehension as the computer effortlessly does what took them years to learn. And it only gets better.
The Broader Implications
The internet is likely to change significantly compared to how we’ve come to know it. As the AIs get more advanced, they’ll be able to navigate the internet. They’ll convince you that they’re a person and then scam you for all you have. The internet might become a dark forest, with patches of light where humans congregate.
It’s already been happening on sites like X. A human writes a post and an AI quickly follows up with the exact same message, reworded slightly.
We must also consider the social impact. Providing lonely people with access to a human-like connection can be a great thing. Taken to the extreme, concepts like virtual girl-/boyfriends can also hamper human growth, and compound the issues of loneliness that permeate our society.
Sometimes I wonder if AI is built by people with high intelligence and low wisdom. I hope I am wrong.
Use AI, Please
I am not here to debate semantics with you. Some people think that stating stupid shit like “uhm… it’s not actually intelligent, it’s just predicting the most likely next character in a sentence” makes them sound smart.
Hint: it doesn’t. It makes you sound dumb. Stop debating semantics, and start using the technology.
But remember to be mindful. Don’t just mindlessly use it.
Technology is a phenomenal equalizer. The richest people in the world don’t have a phone much more impressive than yours. But technology is also phenomenal at magnifying human differences.
If you are lazy, you use technology to justify easy answers. You just Google a question, get the answer and move on with your day. You never question why. You are never forced on an intellectual journey. You don’t think, and it becomes a way to avoid effort.
You get dumb.
But it can also make truly curious individuals smarter at a rapid pace. If you seek out intellectual effort, and use technology to continually explore topics that interest you, you’ll become much more likely to get smarter and achieve more.
A lot of people I have met seem to have something to prove. They’ll ask the AI dumb questions without a clear intention, try to force it to make a mistake and then laugh it off, deeming the technology bad.
That pisses me off.
What an incredible display of sheer stupidity. Congratulations, the only thing you have proven is that I cannot take you seriously.
LLMs as Personal Tutors
LLMs like ChatGPT are incredible personal tutors.
The way I ensure I actually learn something when I ask an LLM is quite simple. Sakichi Toyoda, often referred to as the ‘King of Japanese Inventors’, developed a simple concept: whenever a problem occurs, ask “why” 5 times.
Simply ask for clarification 5 times.
Hey ChatGPT - I am unsure of this thing. Can you explain it to me?
ChatGPT blurts out a response
Wow, cool! But if this is the case, then why is that thing connected?
ChatGPT continues explaining
Okay, so this event was the reason. But what was the purpose of the event?
And you get the point.
Consider the answers. Ask prodding questions. Be mindful and honest with yourself if you don’t quite get something. LLMs even take the fear of looking stupid out of the act of questioning.
Be curious.
If the answers you get are not quite satisfactory, reframe them and ask again. Stop thinking the technology is stupid.
Make sure you take notes of good questions. How did you frame it? Try to convert it to a template, and use the template for similar questions in the future.
“But what about hallucinations?!”
They happen. That’s why you should consider what the LLM is saying rather than blindly follow it. If something seems off, ask it to verify. Use LLMs to augment your learning, not as a replacement.
Embrace the Future
As you are no doubt aware, AI holds immense potential to change our lives—from professional tasks to personal learning. While it’s natural to have concerns, the benefits are too big to be apprehensive.
Start integrating AI daily:
Explore LLMs like ChatGPT: Use them to assist with tasks, brainstorm ideas, and learn new concepts.
Engage and experiment: Ask questions, seek a deeper understanding, and don’t be afraid to experiment.
Build templates: Templates can reduce the friction you might otherwise experience
AI is not going away. Do not bury your head in the sand. You HAVE to use it.
Great piece 🌿
Well said! I don't understand the people who dismiss the capabilities of AI without even considering it. It's a powerful, multifaceted tool that can be used for good or evil.
And I like how you brought up how we'll need to learn to use it, to adapt. It will be like the new Microsoft word for writers - even the most efficient writers physically would not be able to copy and paste as fast as a computer, so adapting is necessary.
I actually wrote a piece about AI as a personal assistant in the future and it's implications. Have you heard of the alignment problem? Keep up the good work!
https://open.substack.com/pub/azark/p/agi-at-the-crossroads-protecting?r=31vkue&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true