Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:05] Welcome to ChatGPT Curious, a podcast for people who are, well, curious about ChatGPT. I'm, um, your host, Dr. Shantae Cofield, also known as the Maestro, and I created this show to explore what ChatGPT actually is. Really, though, are the files in the computer, how to use it, and what it might mean for how we think, work, create and move through life. Whether you're skeptical, intrigued, or already experimenting, you're in the right place. All that I ask is that you stay curious. All right, let's get into it.
[00:00:38] Hello, hello, hello, my curious people, and welcome to episode 14 of, uh, ChatGpt Curious. I am your grateful host, the Maestro, and today we're talking about getting started using ChatGPT. Now, if you've been listening to this podcast, you've already been using CHAT GPT, so perhaps this episode isn't really for you, but every single thing ain't for everybody. Uh, each week when I sit down to record this, I'm thinking about what would be helpful, what would be useful and usable. And sometimes the episodes they write themselves because there are updates. You know, last episode, Sora came out, uh, people don't know what the fuck is happening, going on with that. Other times, I gotta pull from the old creativity. Well, and for this episode, a little bit of both, right? It was largely inspired by the fact that I see people on Instagram thinking that Sora videos are real and other people that are shouting that real videos are AI.
[00:01:33] And I'm just like, one of the best ways to learn about a thing and be in the know about a thing and critique a thing in a way that could actually make a difference is to use the thing, right? So, you know, AI is here. It's not going anywhere. We are 100, 100 billion percent. Let's use those same numbers. That's where we're at, right? It we're in a bubble. I spoke about this in episode 10. I'll link that. Um, no one is denying it at this point, right? They're all like, yes, it's circular money, it's funny money, and it's a bubble.
[00:02:03] Uh, we cannot say when it's going to pop. And I don't think there's a lot of a ton of utility in saying when it's going to pop or being able to forecast it anyway. Uh, but we're in a bubble.
[00:02:12] And seemingly the only difference between now and the dot com bubble is that the valuations of these companies isn't quite as absurd as it was then. From a multiplier perspective, right? The numbers are objectively and absolutely bigger, uh, because like we are in the billions and trillions, but like from a multiplier of how much the company's like bringing in versus how much it's valued at, it's not actually as bad as what they saw during the dot com bubble. So I think that means that we probably have a little bit ways to go before it pops. Uh, but all, ah, that to say, either way, AI isn't going anywhere. Like, yes, we're in a bubble, yes, but it's still not going anywhere. Uh, I've never been one to use fear mongering as a tactic, so I'm not going to sit here and be like, use it or get left behind and die. Like immediately. No. Right, immediately, no. But the reason for this episode, the reason that I talk about AI and ChatGPT, uh, is I did hear an interesting take the other day and so it's kind of the reason I talk about it. So it's somewhat tangential to this take that I heard the other day. Uh, and this take, it's. It was by a guy who I find quite annoying. And so I'm not going to actually name him. He should. He who shall remain unnamed. And no, it's not Trump. Trump, that guy, the whole administration, it's not, it's not him. Um, but he's a black guy and he basically, he said that AI is the closest thing that black people will get to reparations because it levels the playing field. And it's an interesting thought.
[00:03:38] And circling back to that tangential point that I've made in the past, uh, I, I made this in 2023 when, when Chat GPT initially rolled out. And basically that as it relates to my world, especially like the online space that I live in, ChatGPT has the potential to create. And if you put those together, you get credential, right? Uh, it has the potential to create a ton of opportunity for people by making many things, you know, far less cost and time prohibitive, right. At the end of the day, it still takes time to make good shit. To create good shit, it still takes time. But with ChatGPT, right, for $20 a month, you now have access to a thought process, a thought partner, right. A summarizer, a list builder, right? A very beginner level intern. Like, yeah, because all these episodes that I do, I'm like, yo, Chad, GPT stays up. But it can be super helpful. And you know, one of my shticks with running my online business is keeping things really Lean. I like working by myself. Um, and I do hire out. I have a small team that I work for certain things, right. I have Courtney who edits my other podcast. I have Joe who does the YouTube stuff for my other podcast, my show on the mic, Lex, uh, helps out with a few things here and there.
[00:04:50] Um, and I have a CPA Sandy. And that's about it, right. I, I actually have a guy who did my first website. His name is also Joe. And I haven't had to contact him because of Chat GPT, right. And building out this second site for this web for this podcast. And uh, I wrote him an email and I was like, thank you for everything you did. And you. He built me out a really good site. But then I was had ChatGPT and I learned how to do the things for it because it's WordPress and it's self hosted and I had to like be all up in PHP files and such.
[00:05:23] And I learned using chatgpt. And so you start to see that it gives you access to things. If you have some tenacity, right? And some time, uh, it gives you access to things and you have to pay suddenly. And if you don't have the funds to be able to pay people, you can start doing things yourself. You don't, if you don't have the funds to be outsourcing things and, and you know, you can't outsource to an editor, you can edit the podcast yourself. No, Chat GPT won't do it for you. It'll teach you how to do it. And largely I don't, I don't have much editing that gets done to my podcast, right. It's adding the, the bumper to the beginning and the end. But Courtney helps me out in that. She does the summaries and she uploads it and does the show notes. I do that for this podcast using Chat GPT, right? So you start to see that there are things that, yeah, it can level the playing field or it can create opportunity by making things less cost prohibitive and in some cases less time prohibitive like because it can make things faster. And that that to me is uh, a significant benefit there. Like, I won't say that it's cut my work time in half or anything, but it has been significantly helpful in many ways. Even if the main way is freeing up some brain space for me to be able to perform a different task like that is very valuable.
[00:06:34] So I bring this up and I uh, start the episode with this as sort of an answer to the question why should someone even start using Chat GPT in the first place, right? Like, if you don't want to use it, don't use it. I literally don't care. I'm not here to be like, everyone should use it. You have to use it. I don't care. I do not care. But if any part of you is curious about it, even if that curiosity is just there because other people are using it and you're like, hey, I don't want to feel left out, that's fine.
[00:07:03] And so here, right here is how I suggest you get started. Literally two simple steps. Number one, go to chatgpt.com you don't have to log in or anything to start off with, right? Just know that nothing you do will be saved, right? But you don't have to even bother signing in or logging in or creating an account. Just go to chatgpt.com the prompt thing will pop up and from there just ask it. Whatever you'd ask. Go Google. That's it. Anytime you'd Google something, put that instead into Chat GPT. That's literally it. See what responses it gives you. See if it's helpful for you, right? If your work involves a computer, I would suggest just leaving the site open, right? So it's just there, right from the top of mind. Uh, and once again, anything that you'd put into Google, just put in the chat GPT chatgpt.com and see what you get.
[00:07:54] All right. Like I said before, my, my world is the online space, namely folks who want to use content creation as like the top of funnel for their online business. And typically they're in the health and fitness world. So for these folks, kind of the use cases becomes more readily apparent.
[00:08:07] But even for folks outside of the information economy, I think that ChatGPT has the ability to create some brain space and that's really helpful. That's beneficial, right? And the example that comes to mind every time is like, what to make for dinner, how to make it, or your kids only like this thing, or like, and uh, I say this and I don't say it because like, I don't care if you're a man or woman, whoever. But it's just, I don't have kids, but they seem like a big stressor, right? Kids seem like a huge stressor, which is why I never wanted them. And to me, if I, if I'm like, if there's one thing I can take off my plate that's stressing me out, that's great, that's helpful. And I, I feel like ChatGPT can do that. I. I think I shared it in last week's or the week before. How, uh, are you chatty? BT we're talking about JoJo, and he's been using that for, you know, batching his, his food and meal prep for his family. He has two kids and a Nigel. Two kids and a Nigel. Fucking love that cat. Never, uh, met that cat, but I fucking love him. So, you know, uh, to me, a lot of use cases that you might not think of. And that's why it's kind of like, just use it the same way you would use Google. And you'll stumble upon those use cases because it's really hard to see things without looking at them or until you've looked at it. And you can be like, oh, okay, I see this. Or this is helpful this. Or like, what else could I do? Or it leads to this, you know, leads to another question because we talked about before Chat, GPT wants to keep you on there. So it always gives you, uh, like another question at the end, like, would you like me to help you with X?
[00:09:31] You know, you ask it one thing and it gives you an answer and then ask you if there's something else that you know that's related.
[00:09:36] And I think there's a lot of utility in it. So my suggestion is to try that.
[00:09:42] Ultimately, my excitement around AI stems from the hope and my hope that it will give people more time to be more human. Right? More time to be able to spend, you know, with the people they love doing the. That they love. Right. I say it right on the homepage of my website for this podcast, by the way, I know I said it again. Check that out. If you haven't already. Like the website chat2btcurious.com I worked really hard on that shit, so check it out.
[00:10:08] Um, but that, that's why I want people using it or suggest people use it, or like, I hope people use it. It's not that I'm like, everyone should use it. It's the best thing ever. And like, no, like, if you don't need it, you only need it. But if it, you know, we are in the information economy. We, people are pressed for time. People, you know, I think that there's. There are use cases and it can help people get things done faster. It can help people express things better. It can help them do the things that they love. Like, that's what I want. All right? Be able to spend more time with the people you love and more time doing. You love doing so if you get started with ChatGPT and then you want to deep dive in all the tech and all the intricacies of using ChatGPT, go listen to the rest of the episodes that I have. But if you're simply chatgpt curious now, folks, maybe you see why I chose this name and you're just wondering how to get started too. Simple steps. Super, super simple steps. Go to chatgpt. Com and then ask it whatever questions you would ask Google. Give yourself at least a week of doing that. And that's it. Just start there. That's literally it. All right, again, if you want to learn more, come back to the podcast, but just start there. You cannot optimize a habit you haven't built, so just build the habit of using it and see where it takes you. Right? All right, one last thing. We'll talk about how I use ChatGPT this week, and then we'll wrap it up. Each week I include a section, this section right here, where I briefly discuss how I use ChatGPT that day or that week. This one's a fun one. And I kind of was like, should I put it in? Because it's a little bit more advanced, like, kind of advanced. And like, I want the episode to be simple, but either way, we're putting it in because it's pretty fun. And I actually stumbled upon this, uh, a few weeks ago, this, ah, functionality. But I got an email just recently that reminded me about this thing that I'm like, oh, yeah, I should share that.
[00:11:52] So backstory here. We have a bunch of Nest cameras in, in our house, right? And we have two that are outside, and the one that's in the backyard, it shit the bed. And I'm not surprised, like, it's exposed to the elements. Um, but I cannot, um, bring myself to pay almost 200 for another one, right? Largely because I had this kind of, like, grand vision of switching the whole setup over to cctv and that would mean new cameras. And I'm like, I don't want to buy this new one. And I fucking switch it over. So I was having a little Chat GPT convo, and I was asking it to search for deals for me.
[00:12:26] And, uh, as I was asking it to search for deals for me on that camera. And at the end of our fruitless search, it said verbatim, if you like, I can keep a watch for the Nest Cam outdoor battery that's in parentheses for your region, us ca, whichever, and ping you when a good sale shows. Like your personal bargain alarm. Want me to set something up like that or want me to set something like that up. And I was like, how the fuck you do that? And then it explained it and it gave me the logistics of like, what it'd be looking for. And I was like, I responded. I was like, hell yeah. But I don't want anything from Amazon. Fuck that fucking place.
[00:13:01] And I only wanted it to ping me if the discount was at least 20% off. And it was like, okay, done. And it set it up. Right. So what actually happened is the thing it set up was a thing that's called a schedule. I didn't know this existed. Right? Schedules in chat GPT, they, they let you set up automations. It's like you can have a check for deals, updates or share information with you on a regular basis without you having to do, I ain't able to. You have to lift a finger, right? Uh, it's basically you give chat GBC like a standing order to go and do something and it reports back to you on a schedule. Right? Pretty cool. You can set this up by typing it into the prompt box or you can go to Settings Schedules and then manage. And in there you can view them, you can edit them, you can delete them. Um, and so in this case, it sends me an email every Monday and every, every time it says it hasn't found any deals, which is fine, but I'm like, this is really cool. Of note, I didn't set it up to send me an email.
[00:13:58] Think that's just the default feature because originally I asked, I was like, well, how will I, like, know? Are you gonna. Like, I don't have like push notifications on. Like, how are you gonna. Am I gonna know that, like what the update is? And they said that I could just check back to that chat. And I was like, that's kind of fucking annoying because I, I chat with you a lot. I feel like fucking scroll down or like, yes, there's a search like search feature. But still.
[00:14:17] Uh, and then these emails popped up, start popping up every Monday and I was like, this is great. So it's the email address that you use when you sign up. Um, but I think that's really cool. I think it's a really cool feature and it's definitely worth playing around with again. I don't know what your use case would be, but I'm just here to put the things out there and then you, you take what serves you and you leave the rest.
[00:14:40] All right, that right there is all for today. My goal with this episode was to create something for the beginners and something that you not so beginners could easily share with those beginners. So, uh, if you think I hit the mark, consider sharing it with somebody you know who is curious about ChatGPT.
[00:14:59] And by the way, thank you for all the reviews. I think my girl, uh, Elisa has the last one there, and I'm just like, y' all are the fucking best. So thank you.
[00:15:08] Just truly, truly thank you. As always, my friends, just endlessly, endlessly, endlessly appreciative for every single one of you. Until we chat again next Thursday, stay curious.
