I was supposed to help my father (84) restore the boat this spring. In Midtfjord, an alarm on board the plane began beeping uncontrollably. I estimated the distance to land at about a kilometer, and quickly decided that it would be too far for him to swim if – or by the sound of it – when – The boat exploded. Fortunately he had a life jacket, so I was able to think.
I quietly headed to the ground, thinking about what to do. My father and I looked at each other. We couldn’t talk. It was too loud for that.
I remembered we just talked about AI in business and what we can use a ChatGPT bot for.
I looked into the app and wrote: “We have a 2007 Chaparral American boat. It beeps violently when we drive. What do we do?”
The answer came immediately: “This is probably a warning about the presence of water in the engine compartment.” This was true of course.
Then I asked how we got water. The answer came just as quickly: “Click the bilge (water pump) button on the instrument panel. Then the water will be pumped out.”
You understand where this is going.
The last question was also solved by the bot. The button next to it turns off the alarm. The boat was saved, as was the flight. We spent a lovely evening at the lake.
While I was home, I had problems with my Apple TV. All the apps worked, but not Spotify, which I use often.
I did the same and ChatGPT came up with five possible solutions, the third one of which helped me. Soon after, James Taylor’s voice came out of the facility as velvety as ever.
Writing help
In late summer, I sat down with a comprehensive presentation of the work. The customer was satisfied, but he wanted it in English. It was late afternoon, the sun was warm, and I wasn’t quite ready for another couple of hours in front of the computer.
I went back to the bot, pasted the text into ChatGPT and typed: “Can you translate this document to English for me?”
The result was an English text that got at least a clear five in high school. It took me a minute!
Last fall I wrote a post on LinkedIn that I was very happy with. I was going to post it, but I thought I would check if AI could improve the post. I put it into the bot and requested a much shorter post, but with the same meaning. ChatGPT came up with an excellent suggestion.
I sent both posts to my brother. The feedback was encouraging: “Both are good, but I liked your original writing better. Your script gave me time to think.
I finished talking. I will continue to write my own posts.
like this.
Not threatening
So what will be the result? I work as a communications consultant. Do I feel threatened?
no.
When I started practicing in 1994, the Internet as we know it today did not exist. We received an email the following year. I bought my first mobile phone in 1997. Before all this, it was faxes and landlines. Innovations have made the task easier. They did not take up the task.
What does the father think? He says: “Where is the line? Who is feeding the Internet with this information?”
He points out that wrong messages can have serious consequences. At least when it comes to defense. He is concerned that a world war could break out based on a misunderstanding. He also noted Elon Musk’s statement that AI could be dangerous.
Father worries that we must not let new opportunities control us. Artificial intelligence has no emotions.
We lose something along the way, he says, but what? For example, if I buy a car from China, what does that mean? Are your movements recorded? Can anyone map out who you are and when? What are the consequences?
Not stupid ideas from an 84 year old man.
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