Generative AI: What a Difference Two Years Has Made!

ChatGPT, a generative artificial intelligence (AI) platform, was launched in November 2022 and had one million users in one week and 100 million in 2 months. It was the fastest tech platform ever to reach 100 million users and, by February 2023, I was hooked. Today, about 1 in 5 workers are using ChatGPT for their work, myself included.

 

A lot has happened with generative AI in the three years since its launch, so I thought I’d share some personal Barbservations:

AI Use is Not New- Even before ChatGPT came on the scene, I had used AI in the following ways: Microsoft Word and cell phone texting that anticipated (sometimes incorrectly) the next word that I would use in a sentence, pop-up ads based on online searches, shopping suggestions based on past purchases, and Alexa and other virtual assistants.

 

It Makes Suggestions- In 2023, I told ChatGPT the output that I wanted via a detailed prompt. It then did what I asked, but no more. I was done. Today, like an overly ambitious student trying to get an “A” from a professor, it asks me if it can do more for me such as creating a checklist or PDF documents.

 

AI Output Pops Up Automatically- Three years ago, I had to seek out a generative AI content by proactively logging in to ChatGPT. Today, if I use the search engine Google, content from their AI platform, Gemini, generally pops up first to answer my question, along with the information sources that were used to generate the AI answer.

 

Text to Graphics Capabilities- In its early years, ChatGPT could only be used for text prompts for text output. I tried to create images and got an error message. Today, you can give ChatGPT a text command to create a graphic image. My experience is that it takes a “conversation” with several rounds of prompts to get exactly what you want.

 

Hallucinations Still Occur- Hallucinations are authoritatively sounding AI-generated statements that are wrong. They were a problem in 2022 and continue today. Two prompts that frequently cause problems are math calculations and reference citations. Thus, AI-generated content must always be considered a “first draft” subject to review and revisions, if needed.

 

Content Controls- Since hallucinations are an issue, some organizations have created their own data sources, called large learning models, for AI to generate content from. LLMs are the underlying technology that powers generative AI applications that are trained on a massive amount of text to understand, generate, and process human language. I recently experimented with this and asked ChatGPT to create content only from my website and archived blog posts.

 

My best advice for using AI is to play around with it and have fun. It will probably surprise you and may help you accomplish everyday tasks such as planning a meal and trip planning.

This post provides general personal finance or consumer decision-making information and does not address all the variables that apply to an individual’s unique situation. It does not endorse specific products or services and should not be construed as legal or financial advice. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Take-Aways From a Back-to-School Virtual Conference

Each year in August, Next Gen Personal Finance holds an all-day Back-to-School Virtual Conference for financial educators. I recently attended part of this program to learn about topics related to my work for clients. I firmly believe that, when you are well versed on current events, you enhance your credibility with clients and students. 

Below are six of my content take-aways:

Generative AI Prompts- Users need to “poke and prod” prompts for generative AI programs (e.g., ChatGPT, Bing, and Gemini) to get what they want. The more detail, the better. For example “Explain AI to a 10-year old in 60 words or less” versus “Explain AI.” Be very specific. Examples: “Write your response in narrative form instead of a bulleted list” and “The tone should be casual and exciting.” Use AI output as a tool but make the final product your own.

 

Frictionless Spending- Due to increased use of financial technology (fintech) tools, the processes of spending and borrowing money have become much more seamless and hassle-free. While this is good from a convenience standpoint (i.e., quick transactions with minimal steps and obstacles), fintech tools can also enable overspending and overborrowing.

 

Dark Patterns- These are deceptive user interfaces on websites that trick people into doing things that they didn’t plan to do such as signing up for recurring payments, buying something, or sharing personal information. Three common places where dark patterns are used are online shopping, gaming apps (e.g., paying money to get to the next level of a game), and social media. For example, ads that pop up for items that you were just searching for online.

 

Confirm Shaming- This dark pattern method words the option to decline an offer in such a way that website visitors feel ashamed to proceed. Example: “So you really don’t want to save money?” Other dark patterns include making it very difficult to cancel a service or subscription that was so easy to sign up for (e.g., requiring a phone call) and “bait and switch” dark patterns that try to get consumers to upgrade when a low cost product or service is “unavailable.”

 

Inflation Rate- Good news! The U.S. inflation rate fell below 3% for the first time since 2021. Specifically, the consumer price index rose 2.9% from July 2023 to July 2024 according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. While the increase in prices for goods and services has slowed considerably from mid-2022, we are not experiencing deflation (i.e., a sustained decrease in prices). Therefore, Americans cannot expect prices to go back to where they were in 2019.

 

Vehicle Purchases- The average price of a new vehicle is slightly under $50,000 and 96-month (8-year) car loans are becoming increasingly available. A longer loan term (e.g., 7 or 8 years vs. 4 or 5 years) reduces monthly vehicle loan payments but increases the total interest paid. According to a 2024 J.D. Power study, Toyota is the most reliable mass market brand followed by Buick (ranked second) and Chevrolet and Mini (both tied for third).

 

This post provides general personal finance or consumer decision-making information and does not address all the variables that apply to an individual’s unique situation. It does not endorse specific products or services and should not be construed as legal or financial advice. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

 

Personal and Professional Uses of Generative AI

 

I recently co-taught a webinar for one of my clients about professional uses of artificial intelligence (AI) platforms such as ChatGPT. Below are eight highlights from my webinar presentation and some advice to get started:

Previous Experience- Most people have had some experience with AI through word processing software, online searches, online pop-up ads, AI-enabled “smart home” features, and virtual assistants such as Alexa, Siri, and Cortana.

 

Simple ChatGPT Description- ChatGPT provided this simple description: "A smart robot friend who can answer questions and have conversations with users." It is a large language model (LLM) trained on a massive data set of text information that creates (generates) brand new content.

 

Login Details- The website for ChatGPT is https://chat.openai.com. To use this program, users must create an account with a username and password. After that, simply type a prompt into the “Send a Message” field and wait 5-10 seconds. The response to your query is lightning-fast.

 

Prompt Engineering- This is a skilled process of talking to LLM systems like ChatGPT and involves using carefully chosen words. The more detail the better. For example, instead of “What are mutual funds?,” say “Explain mutual funds to a 10-year old and describe five types of mutual funds.”

 

Hallucinations Happen- “Hallucinations” is the term used to describe authoritatively sounding statements that are flat out wrong. They happen and, for this reason, ChatGPT output should only be considered a “first draft” subject to review by an experienced subject matter expert.

 

Fun Ways to Start Using ChatGPT- Many people don’t have time to play with AI on work time so they need to learn how to use it on their time off. Fun personal uses of ChatGPT include poems, songs, jokes, party planning ideas, craft and hobby ideas, gift ideas, recipes and meal planning, vacation planning, restaurant reviews, exercise ideas, and learning a new language.

 

Content Creation Uses of ChatGPT- For personal finance content creators and other writers, uses of AI include newsletter articles, newspaper columns, blog posts, literature reviews, outlines for classes and webinars, speaker notes for slides, show notes for podcasts, and article, blog, and book summaries.

 

Learning Activities- A variety of learning activities can be created using ChatGPT. Examples include discussion and polling questions, talking points for debates, trivia game questions, financial case studies, student-created poems or songs, and definitions of terms.

 

A good way to get started is to write down one or more things that you would like to do with ChatGPT (e.g., summarize a book, plan a trip, research a topic, write a poem, etc.). Then write your first prompt to accomplish this task.

This post provides general personal finance or consumer decision-making information and does not address all the variables that apply to an individual’s unique situation. It does not endorse specific products or services and should not be construed as legal or financial advice. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.