As artificial intelligence develops and expands into different economies, institutions may start providing "how to" courses for students and staff members. Schools may start to include AI lessons to ensure literacy in these technologies for children as they progress from kindergarten to high school.
If you'd like to get jump-started on your AI Literacy, here are a few course ideas.
Generative AI is a complex technology that powers software and tools which can be asked questions in conversational language and produces replies that read as if they were written by a human being. The technology can also learn and improve based on more data and inputs that it encounters.
Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that uses machine learning algorithms to create new and original content like images, videos, text, and audio.
How does Generative AI actually create responses?
It creates its answers by analyzing enormous amounts of existing text, which enables it to mimic sentence structure and argument, and "predicts" the best answer. When asked a question or presented with a statement, a chat AI finds information associated with the terms it's given and generates text about it, using algorithms that determine the next word based on its analysis of millions of existing, human-generated sentences. The mechanism is similar to the predictive text feature on a cell phone, though vastly more sophisticated. The result is usually clear, grammatically correct sentences.
(Image Credit:This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial - ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Created by Jessica Kiebler, Pace University.)
The algorithm is trained on massive corpus of text data, around 570GB of datasets, including web pages, books, and other sources in order to compile its answers. This is why the underlying technology is called a large language model or LLM as they are built by "learning" patterns in large amounts of information.
When asked a question or presented with a statement, a chat AI finds information associated with the terms it was given and generates text about it, using algorithms that determine the next word based on its analysis of millions of existing, human-generated sentences. The mechanism is similar to the predictive text feature on a cell phone, though vastly more sophisticated. The result is grammatically correct, reasonably well-organized text that reads uncannily like it was written by a person.
An example of generative AI is ChatGPT which was created by the company OpenAI and released in late 2022 to the public. It can produce an essay, an explanation of a natural phenomenon, a meal plan, a vacation suggestion, or answers to a vast number of other questions.
ChatGPT's output is not limited to ordinary prose. It can write code, create an outline, even craft a poem or song. It can be asked to write or rewrite in a particular style, or to revise and clean up written text. However, if the AI does not have access to accurate information, it will still generate text -- it just won't be accurate.
There are many other types of generative AI which can create images and artwork as well.
How do generative AI tools predict the next word in their responses?
(Icons of a stack of books, a newspaper, and a website)
Generative AI tools are trained on vast amounts of text. Imagine an AI has read and analyzed millions of books, web pages, and documents. This helps them learn patterns in language.
(Icon of a person sitting at a desk typing; a text book says "Describe a dog")
A user enters a prompt, like 'Describe a dog,' asking the AI to generate a response.
(Icon of gears with arrows pointing to a brain)
The AI doesn't just look for the most popular answer. It analyzes the context of the prompt and predicts the next best word based on patterns learned from its massive data network.
(Chart titled "Probability" with different percentages for different words - Mammals at 85%, Animals at 70%, Pets at 50%, Furniture at 5%)
The AI assigns probability scores to possible next words based on the context in the prompt. The AI has processed data equivalent to reading every book in the largest libraries, and it uses this knowledge to generate contextually relevant responses.
(Icon of a set of websites; Text says, "Dogs are (arrow) mammals...")
Remember! AI is not a search engine. But it is a powerful tool that understands and generates language based on complex patterns learned from analyzing data at an unprecedented scale.