ChatGPT Guide: Resources, Prompts, and AI Tools

To begin using ChatGPT, users need to register an account on the OpenAI website or directly through the ChatGPT login page. The registration process involves creating an account with an email address (Gmail and Outlook are recommended, though 163 and QQ are also supported), followed by email verification and mobile number verification. Note that domestic Chinese mobile numbers may require third-party assistance for verification. Once registered, basic usage is straightforward: input questions or prompts into the chat interface. ChatGPT has response length limitations; users can prompt it to 'continue answering' if a response is incomplete or to 'default to Chinese' if the output is in English. Issues like request failures due to high traffic can often be resolved by refreshing the page or subscribing to ChatGPT Plus for better service. Geographic restrictions may also arise, indicated by 'OpenAI’s services are not available in your country'; switching networks or using tools like OpenAI Checker can help. For a more seamless desktop experience, a dedicated ChatGPT Desktop Application is available, which may reduce regional verification issues. Mobile users seeking a quick experience without a complex registration can opt for mobile-based ChatGPT alternatives like Aski, which offers a Chinese AI Q&A service with content creation features, or Poe, which integrates multiple AI bots including a simplified ChatGPT version (Sage) and is available on iOS outside of China. Developers can utilize OpenAI's API for integration, though ChatGPT itself does not have a public official API; third-party solutions like node-chatgpt-api exist but come with inherent risks.

OpenAI provides 'ChatGPT Examples,' offering 48 usage demonstrations. These examples have been categorized into content creation, content analysis, code assistance, format conversion, and Q&A consultation. For instance, content creation prompts can cover brainstorming, title generation, content continuation, grammar correction, and recipe creation. Content analysis prompts include information classification, keyword extraction, summarization, and outline generation. Code assistance spans code generation, conversion, explanation, and bug fixing. Format conversion can handle translation, text-to-table, and text-to-color transformations. Q&A prompts can be used for creating interview questions, simulating dialogues, and providing consulting services. The article details a workflow for processing these examples: parsing content, copying to ChatGPT, commanding it to convert text to a table and translate to Chinese, pasting into FlowUs, converting to a multi-dimensional table, and fine-tuning. Beyond official resources, community-driven prompt collections are invaluable. 'Awesome ChatGPT Prompts' and its Chinese counterpart, 'ChatGPT 中文调教指南,' offer diverse and interesting use cases, such as acting as a Linux terminal, a translator, an interviewer, or even a comedian. Other community resources include EmergentMind for excellent ChatGPT use cases, 'The Ultimate Collection of ChatGPT Products and Prompts' categorized by use case, and 'Learn Prompting,' a free, open-source site for AI interaction. Personal and commercial entities are actively exploring ChatGPT's applications, from generating book outlines and mind maps to acting as language tutors or even creating virtual rap artists. The article also highlights 'ChatGPT 10大应用场景' by partner cloud, covering marketing automation, risk identification, personalized search, knowledge graph enhancement, content creation, programming assistance, technical support, data analysis, and cross-industry popular science.

Several productivity tools are now incorporating OpenAI's GPT-3 AI services. In task management, Todoist AI assists in extracting tasks from text, splitting tasks, and suggesting task descriptions. For reading and knowledge management, Jianying (简悦) offers AI features for text summarization, analysis based on context, and content organization, with a standalone parsing site for mobile use and a browser plugin to export ChatGPT content. FlowUs, a knowledge management platform with block editing and multi-dimensional tables, now includes FlowUs AI for brainstorming, outlining, content continuation, polishing, summarization, and translation (including classical Chinese). Writeathon, a professional content creation tool, integrates AI writing and image generation capabilities, supporting workflows from idea generation to output. These integrations aim to enhance user efficiency and creative output.

ChatGPT has spearheaded a significant AI breakthrough, sparking widespread discussion and experimentation. While many users are enthusiastically sharing its applications in coding, conversation, writing, and information retrieval, others are exploring its commercial potential. However, critical perspectives exist. Ted Chiang likens ChatGPT to a 'blurry lossy compression' of online text, while Noam Chomsky views its use as high-tech plagiarism and 'a way to avoid learning.' These criticisms highlight ChatGPT's limitations, such as its inability to provide sources and its tendency to fabricate information ('hallucinations'). In specialized fields like financial data analysis, professional AI tools like Glazer may be more beneficial. The article posits that while previous AI was 'invisible,' ChatGPT's popularity stems from making AI tangible in daily life, leading to a 'descent' of AI that will reshape our perception of the world. AI, through natural language, is changing how we interact with information. The potential for creating automated workflows using multiple AI tools is vast, with predictions of fully automated capitalism akin to 'Ghost in the Shell.' Despite its advanced capabilities, ChatGPT remains a Large Language Model (LLM). While it can foster thinking and serve as a cognitive aid, it cannot replace human thought and decision-making, which remain the primary domain of humans.