Has ChatGPT duped you? Don't get suckered. Check that expert's socials.

If you have yet to hear about ChatGPT, it's time to come out from under that rock.

Journalists, experts, and amateur pundits are all talking. They've written articles about ChatGPT in Wired, USA Today, ZDnet, PsychologyToday, the Washington Post, The New York Times, The Conversation, Nature, and the Harvard Business Review, among many other publications.

So, what's the big deal? Why is ChatGPT different? Why does its release begin a new era in artificial intelligence?

Since I don't know much about ChatGPT, I asked its grandfather, the Google machine, for an analogy. Being old and slow to understand my meaning, Google pulled up answers for whether ChatGPT could write an analogy or a parable. Clearly, Google didn't understand my meaning. It simply matched the words that I used with the most popular pages containing those words. At least, that's what I think it did. After sorting that hunk of chunk's responses, I found an answer to my question. Why does searching for information need to be so complicated?

The article that had what I was looking for was written on January 22, 2023, by Jeff Selingo and published as an article on LinkedIn. In it, he says that ChatGPT is to writing, what the calculator is to math.?

Hmmm, that's interesting. I understand a bit more.

Calculators help with math computations. They save a bunch of time, especially if the math is complex. You need to know how to use a calculator to do complex math. Complex math is tricky. You need to understand complex math to recognize whether the calculator's solution makes sense.

I remember when we were learning complex math. We weren't allowed to use calculators. We had to show our work so the teacher could see whether we understood how to do the math problems. Eventually, when teachers were testing higher-level thinking, we were allowed to use the calculator. The calculator wasn't particularly useful for that. It would have been silly to prevent us from using calculators. It was the higher-level thinking that mattered.

Let's see if we can use that analogy to understand ChatGPT better.

ChatGPT helps with writing. It can save a bunch of time, especially if the writing is about a complex subject. You need to know how to use ChatGPT to write about complex subjects. Complex subjects are tricky. You need to understand a complex subject to recognize whether ChatGPT's writing makes sense.

I like that. It worked out well.

But what if I need help understanding the subject matter? How will I know whether ChatGPT is making any sense?

That makes me nervous.

What if someone uses ChatGPT to present information to me even though they don't understand the subject matter? Couldn't someone make it seem like they are an expert even though they're not?

How could I determine whether someone is a real expert and knows what they're talking about?

The easiest way would be to look at their LinkedIn profile.

The first thing I could do is check for their work experience. Do they have the work experience to be an expert in this area?

What about their educational background? Do they have an educational background to be an expert in this area? I've noticed that people with certificates from prestigious schools use them to make it appear that they attended the school. What about that Congressman from New York, George Santos? He lied about his work experience and educational background. He was elected to Congress. How else could I determine whether a person is an expert?

Have they written any articles? Do their articles start in December 2022? That would be a red flag.

What I'd like to see are some conversations. Have they been having conversations in real-time with people answering questions about the subject matter? That'd be very difficult to fake. I would gain much confidence if I saw some real-time conversations.

What else do you think I could look at? Are there any live interviews or videos of them talking about the subject? ChatGPT can't do that yet. If I saw a live event or even a recording of a live event where they talked about the subject with other known experts, I could trust that they were an expert.

Now that ChatGPT is here, I'll need to check an expert's socials to ensure I can trust them. That's the only way I'll be able to tell whether they know their stuff.?