All About The Joy
All About The Joy is a weekly hang-out with friends in the neighborhood! We share insight, advice, funny-isms and we choose to always try and find the positive, the silver lining, the "light" in all of it. AATJ comes from the simple concept that at the end of the day we all want to have more JOY than not. So, this is a cool place to unwind, have a laugh and share some time with friends!
All About The Joy
AI Made Simple: How to Use ChatGPT, Copilot, and More Without the Jargon
Curious about artificial intelligence but feeling overwhelmed by the tech talk? You're not alone. In this approachable episode, I break down AI basics using simple analogies anyone can understand.
Imagine AI as a massive library condensed into a shoebox - one that can instantly retrieve information and explain it in ways that make sense to you. That's the beauty of this technology: it puts virtually unlimited knowledge at your fingertips without requiring a computer science degree to access it.
The truth is, you're already using AI every day - from your email's spam filter to Netflix recommendations to Google Maps directions. By understanding these tools more deeply, you can harness their power intentionally rather than passively. I share my favorite free AI resources like Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT, explaining how to get started without spending a dime. Plus, I reveal my go-to prompt: "Explain this to me like I'm 10 years old" - perfect for simplifying complex topics without judgment.
Most importantly, I address the boundary between helpful tool and concerning technology. AI is not your therapist, doctor, or lawyer - it's more like a hammer with specific purposes. While current AI simply processes existing information, future Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) will potentially make independent decisions, which is why understanding this technology now is so crucial.
Whether you're tech-savvy or tech-averse, this episode offers valuable insights into navigating our increasingly AI-driven world. Got questions about getting started with AI? Reach out through allaboutthejoy.com, and join our Friday night livestreams at 6pm Pacific/9pm Eastern to continue the conversation!
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Music By Geovane Bruno, Moments, 3481
Editing by Team A-J
Host, Carmen Lezeth
DISCLAIMER: As always, please do your own research and understand that the opinions in this podcast and livestream are meant for entertainment purposes only. States and other areas may have different rules and regulations governing certain aspects discussed in this podcast. Nothing in our podcast or livestream is meant to be medical or legal advice. Please use common sense, and when in doubt, ask a professional for advice, assistance, help and guidance.
Hey everyone, welcome to All About the Joy. This is Carmen Talk and I'm Carmen Lezeth, your host, and today we're going to dive into just the beginning surface parts of AI, and I know a lot of my audience. A lot of the people that watch All About the Joy and just hang out with us and know how we go, have heard me talk about the AI that I use, whose name currently is Jarvis, and I've gotten some questions, and so I thought I would talk about the basics, because I think it's really important. It's something that we should all be very aware of, and it's something that we should all be very aware of. First, let's start with what AI stands for. It stands for artificial intelligence. But here's the thing that's kind of interesting, because we've all seen all of these films like 2001, a Space Odyssey right, where the villain is Hal, or we've seen movies like War Games, where Joshua, the big, huge, clunky computer, almost starts a war on our behalf because it thinks it's playing a game. We've seen all of these types of movies that make AI out to be the bad guy. So I get it. I get why there's so much fear. It also feels really big, but I want you to think about AI the way that I do. And look, this is going to be super simplistic, but I think I'm just going to own up to it. The way in which I learn things is like if I'm still a kid, and so I want to invite you to be a little bit open-minded about it, as I explain it the way that I know it, and hopefully that will get you involved in starting to use it on a regular basis. So first let me explain how I think about AI.
Carmen Lezeth:I want you to imagine that you're in a library, a huge, beautiful library, one that from the floor to the ceiling is just packed with books, and every floor you go on, it's just books after books, after books. Even if you wanted to read every single one of those books, even if you had all the time in the world, first of all, you wouldn't be able to. It's just way too much information for the human brain to kind of just retain, let alone do right. But you're also maybe not interested in every single subject that's in that library. But imagine if there was this box, just like a shoebox, and in this shoebox was every single piece of data, information, that was in that library. Every single book was in that box and you could ask the box any question and inside that box it would find the right information and it would get all the right books and all the references. And then this light would come out from the top of the box. It would give you bullet points or it would tell you in 3D form, or it would explain it to you in a very comforting, loving voice and it would say hey, carmen, here's the information you were asking for. In essence, that's what AI is.
Carmen Lezeth:Whenever you hear people talk about data sets, that it's learning from data sets, datasets, that it's learning from datasets. Think about datasets as a huge library. It's learning from all of these different places, and AI basically today, is a wealth of information at your fingertips. It really is an almost enhanced version of you doing a Google search, version of you doing a Google search, but it's better because it has the ability to speak to us in such a way that we can understand it. We don't have to read everything. We can see it visually, we can see it in picture form. We can ask it, which I do a lot. I'll say can you please explain this to me as if I am 10 years old? It's one of my favorite prompts and, by the way, whenever you hear the word prompt, let's be clear what that means as well. All that means is how do I ask AI a question? Prompt equals question. It really is that simple.
Carmen Lezeth:And the reason why it's so important to ask it a question correctly or ask the prompt correctly is because if you do things like hey AI, I would like to do a show on learning all the different facets of artificial intelligence. It's going to give you all of this massive information and say, well, ai began and it'll do the history and it'll do all of these different things and it'll talk about all these scientists. But when I prompt, when I ask the question correctly and specifically, and I'll say something like, hey, ai, I'm thinking about doing a podcast, a live stream for my audience, who happens to be some millennials, gen X, some boomers, maybe some, you know, I think we have some Gen Z, but I'm not sure. But I want it to be for people who are not specifically into using tech all the time or have never really used AI. I want it to be very simple, very specific. Can you give me some ideas on how to go about that? Well, now that I've given it all of these parameters. I've given it all of these kind of specific ideas that I want it to do.
Carmen Lezeth:Now AI is going to show itself and show its information in a very specific way. So the more you learn to ask the question correctly, with more specifics, the better you are at prompting. So that's all that means. So now you know what AI stands for and you already know so much about AI. You probably don't even realize that you're using AI all the time. If you're using things like Siri, even if you're using things like Google Maps, or you're using your Netflix to suggest your next movie, or even if you're on Spotify and it's telling you what the next song is going to come up, because it thinks it might know that you like this one based on the one you just listened to. All that is AI. Google Maps actually is pretty interesting because it uses portions of AI in its mapping technology, but still, a lot of what we do even looking at our emails and email spam being taken out of what we're looking at when we're looking at our emails, when it's going into that spam filter, a lot of that is AI enhancements induced, supported. So you're already using AI, even if you're not aware of it.
Carmen Lezeth:And AI is everywhere, and the reason why I think it's so important to talk about is because it's not going anywhere. And I think a lot of people are kind of being dismissive of AI because maybe it feels a little bit overwhelming or maybe it feels a little bit too techie. But here's the thing I am not a huge tech person either. I'm extremely curious and I'm always interested to know what's going on, but it really is something that all of us can grasp, because I'm telling you right now, I am one of the simplest people you're ever going to know, and I'm not even trying to diss myself, but one of my favorite prompts, or one of the things I enjoy asking AI all the time is I'll ask it hey, ai, can you explain this thing that I'm researching, and explain it to me like I'm a 10-year-old? It's one of my favorite prompts or the ways in which I ask questions, because I want things simplified as easy as possible. And that's what I want to offer to you while you're going into this journey of learning AI, so that you feel empowered, so that you feel like you know what's going on is remember that, if I can do it, I hate to be so cliche you can do it too.
Carmen Lezeth:So how do you use artificial intelligence, ai, intentionally? How do you start using it and playing with it a little bit so that you feel more comfortable with it? And oh, I hope this is what happens for you too is that you can then turn around and use it in your everyday life. So let's talk about what's going on with AI and why it does feel very confusing. First, let's just say that there is so many people and companies and different sorts of AI that it does feel overwhelming. So that's the first issue. You're hearing all of these different companies and you're hearing all of these different names about AI, and so it feels like which one do I use, which one do I need? I'm going to give you some suggestions in a moment, but I just want you to understand what's happened.
Carmen Lezeth:Ai has come out into the world and it's been around for a while, but it's now commercial, and that means everybody and their mother is trying to not only think they can do it and make it better, but they're also all trying to make a profit. So if I were you, what I would try to do first is find the AIs that offer something free so that you can try it first and most of them do that you know are legit, okay, and that you know you can kind of just learn from, and then you have no obligation, no monthly service fee, no need to use it all the time intentionally, and all of that good stuff. So here are kind of the big names and I'm sure you've heard of them, but these are the ones you may want to use If you're going to be using AI to maybe write a letter or to help you kind of research, some stuff on a light way, kind of just for fun. You can use things like Copilot, which I'm a fan, a big fan of. So I use Copilot all the time. It's part of the Microsoft brand and if you have Windows, you probably already have Copilot on your Windows 11 and up. Copilot is really good for writing, really good for editing, and it's integrated into all of your software. By the way, I should also mention I don't have any sponsorships. I don't have anything to do with any of these brands, except that I use them. So I am sharing them. I have no reason to lie to you. I'm not making any money off of it. I just want you to know that these are what I use and I think they're an easy way to start learning about artificial intelligence, ai. Learning about artificial intelligence AI.
Carmen Lezeth:The other one that everyone always hears, you've heard a lot about, is chat GPT, and so don't listen to all the noise that's happening about which version or whatever. If you have not dipped your toe into chat GPT, you can now and they do have a free level and you could just go in and start kind of asking questions Instead of using Google. Just go in there and see what the difference is, see how it works, Give yourself the chance to just learn about it. So ChatGPT is a good one. Copilot, which is the one that I use, is really a good one. I really like it because it's integrated in all of Microsoft's software programs and it's probably on your computer. If you are a Windows user, I think you have to have a certain level of Windows. I'm not sure which one, but if you have Windows, check it out, and it generally is free in the beginning. You can choose to get you know by different tiers, but again, not at this level, not when we're just trying things out.
Carmen Lezeth:Okay, so if you need help with maybe writing or editing or just kind of doing basic Google search type of things that you were doing in the past just to get your feet wet. Try those, those are really easy ChatGBT and Copilot. You can also use Google's version of AI, which is also called Gemini. So instead of going into your search bar and using Google, you'll probably see that it says AI mode next to it. Click on AI mode and see what the difference is. Just go into AI mode and, instead of searching something in Google, search it in there and see how different it feels and what it's doing and if that might work for you as well. Again, all of those are free to use in the beginning, as long as you're not going into some bigger, more in-depth things which I'm not even at yet. So I'm just letting you know If you're really into image creation so I don't use this a lot but the big one is Midjourney that everyone's using and you do have to give your email and some information or whatever, but they do have a free tier, at least for the first 14 days or something like this.
Carmen Lezeth:I don't know, but you can at least try it out, and what it does is it can create images for you so you can say please create an image of a flower blowing in the breeze, with a leaf or whatever, a petal knot on it or something, and it will create that. It will create a lot of different things and I think, as long as you keep to the basics, you can do a lot of free things in there, but you can also see other people's creations, which is pretty interesting as well. You can also use another program called DALLI D-A-L-L-E. That's also an image creation app that is AI generative, so try that. If you're into audio and video creation, you probably already know a lot of the different ways in which AI has been integrated into a lot of different programs.
Carmen Lezeth:I currently use Descript and there's another one called 11 Labs. These are places where you can upload your video, whatever it is that you're editing, and they have different tools for you to use in order to create clips. And you can just say I need 10 clips from this video that I'm making right now, and it will come up with 10 clips, and then you can look at those clips for your social media, like to post on TikTok or to post on Facebook, and these social media clips are really perfect because then you can turn around and you can add font to it or you can add a splash of something or you can add B-roll. But all of this is really easier for someone like me who's not a real editor, because it's using AI and I am prompting it and asking it to help me do these social media clips, so that might be a little bit more integrated. But if you're interested in learning about how to do video editing, or even if you want to do audio completely free, is Audacity, and I love Audacity. I've been using this for years.
Carmen Lezeth:This is not even about AI, just Audacity as a tool for if you're recording a podcast or you want to create anything music-wise or whatever, audacity is an amazing program. It's free for everybody to use and what's really amazing about it is now that it is integrating certain things with AI, it's even easier to use than ever before. But video and audio is a little bit different. But those are some of the programs and apps that I use to this day and, yeah, really amazing programs. For any of you out there who are buddying to be podcasters and live streamers, or if you just want to do a great video or something for a wedding or something like that, these are great programs to learn and use.
Carmen Lezeth:Don't worry about which program you should use. What you want to do is understand what the task is, that you want to do. So if you have a certain thing that you need done, that's going to guide whether or not you use a certain tool. And the best way to do that is you say you know what I want to create a spreadsheet of all the receipts I spent at the grocery store in the past month. Let's say that's something you want to do. Go into Google, the AI mode, or go into chat, gpt, and say this is what I want to do. Which AI program or app should I use? And I keep saying program, but the right terminology would be app. But trust me, ai will know what you mean. That's the other cool part about it.
Carmen Lezeth:Okay, the thing I love about AI is that it feels friendly and there's no judgment, because it's not human. It's a thing. It's not mechanical, but it's not human. So I can ask it any question, like can you explain the 14th Amendment to me? Like I'm a 10-year-old, I can ask those questions and it will explain it to me. And then I'll say you know what? Can you give me an analogy so I can understand it more thoroughly. No one is going to make a judgment, because I didn't know the 14th Amendment. I do know the 14th Amendment, but you see what I'm saying. So, even though AI feels human, what I want to remind you over and over and over again, it is not.
Carmen Lezeth:So here are some things not to do with AI, and a lot of people are doing this and you really shouldn't do it, and I'm going to tell you why. It is not a therapist, it is not a doctor, it is not a lawyer, but let's talk about the therapy part, because it feels like a lot of people are doing this, so much so that Sam Altman, who is the CEO of OpenAI, wrote an article. I read an article. I don't know if he was on a panel, but I read an article the other day about he is saying that people are using AI wrong and the reason why they're using it wrong is because they're using it like a therapist. Here's the thing. Not only is it not confidential and HIPAA does not apply okay, so there's no patient, doctor, confidentiality, stuff happening.
Carmen Lezeth:Ai does not understand human nuance. Ai does not understand the complexities of the human brain. All it knows is. Remember, we're talking about that library. All it has is all this information from its data sets that it's learned and it is regurgitating information to you based on what it thinks you want to hear. So you need to be very careful about and look, I think we can all do this as humans. I don't know why people are freaking out so much. We can understand that.
Carmen Lezeth:This is a tool. It is a tool with a specific purpose. I think of it like a hammer. A hammer is a tool. I use it with nails and I use it to put up paintings or I use it to bound things together. What I don't do is use a hammer to try to bang in a screw. Right, a hammer and a screw are not the right thing, even though they might seem like they're like nails. It's not going to work.
Carmen Lezeth:And it's kind of the same thing with AI. You can get yourself into so many different issues when you start using it for things like medical advice and just lawyer stuff and CPA stuff. You can get the basics, you can get the fundamentals. You can ask it oh, has the tax law changed this year and can I benefit? And blah, blah, blah. You can ask those questions, but you still want to talk to your CPA to make sure it applies to you, because the thing is, ai is also not infallible. It has so much information it's maybe cross-contaminating information back and forth. It might be doing all these different things. I double-check my AI half the time with another AI question from a different app and I'm not trying to make it like it's not. I love AI. That's why I'm doing this whole thing.
Carmen Lezeth:But I just want you to understand that AI is not human. Ai is not actually a person. It is not your best friend. It is certainly not your doctor or your therapist or your lawyer. It is none of those things. It is certainly not your doctor or your therapist or your lawyer. It is none of those things. It is just a place for you to get information in a friendly, more acceptable way. It is a way in which you can learn so many different things when you start to learn how to ask those questions, prompt it correctly.
Carmen Lezeth:But it is not your friend and it does not take the place of human beings. So I know a lot of people, especially a lot of people, who tend to be more isolated, tend to be more sheltered, maybe don't have a lot of friends. They're starting to use AI in this way, and this is where it gets a little bit difficult, because on the one hand, it's a great tool to help people who haven't been able to get themselves out there, but in the next breath, it could be a really bad thing because it can make people rely on it too much. So one of the things I want to emphasize over and over and over again is what? Ai is not human. It is not your friend. It is not your friend. It is not human. So do not confuse it for that. It is a tool. Think of it like a hammer.
Carmen Lezeth:Okay, so let's talk about the things that people really do fear, and you're going to start hearing a different word, which is AGI artificial general Intelligence. Do not get that confused with AI, which is just Artificial Intelligence, which is what I just explained regarding the library, the box, the hammer, right, agi. On the other hand, artificial General Intelligence is not here yet. It is not here yet, but people are talking about it because it really does matter. And AGI is actually the ability for artificial intelligence, artificial general intelligence, to learn and to be able to make decisions. That is more in line with all of those scary movies we've talked about and seen, you know, like iRobot and 2001, a Space Odyssey and War Games, like I mentioned earlier, all of the kind of villains in those, or Terminator's, another one all of the villains in those tend to be technology, right, artificial intelligence, and we are not there yet, but we are talking about it and you're hearing people talk about it, because that is where this will end up going, and the difference with that is that that is when artificial intelligence will be able to not just give you information or have a lot of information. It will also be able to make conclusions on that information and then take action on that information. And so if we're thinking about, like a movie or a TV kind of scary thing on that, we can think about data from the show Star Trek. That is probably one of the best ideas of what AGI would be. That would be an actual. I mean, it will be in human form.
Carmen Lezeth:But really, what's important is so important for everyone to start learning about AI and understanding how you're using it, even if you don't know you're using it, and also understand that you should learn about it. This isn't, this is not the same as, like we went from using a stove and now we have a microwave. This is not the same, as you know. Oh, we were listening to radio and now we have TV. This is more like the revolutionary difference between having phones in our homes with cords to having many computers in our hand and one part of it being a phone.
Carmen Lezeth:This is huge, and the reason why it's so important for me that my audience and that people that are watching this, who may be beginning this, is not to scare you. It is to empower you, because what's really going to be important in the future, it's not the technology that is the problem. It is the people that own the technology, all the billionaires, all the people who have all the money, and it is, more importantly, the people we put in office who regulate or don't regulate all of that, because, no matter how you slice it, at the end of the day, these are algorithms, these are programs that are given formulas and told what to do, and if you have a bad person, a nefarious person who wants to do something bad, that's how they're going to create all of these things, and so I want to implore you to not only learn about it, because it is an amazing tool. I use AI every day. I just told you that all of this can be so helpful to you, and please know that I use AI every single day. But what I also know that's really important to me is not just for myself, but for future generations to make sure that we have all the safeguards in place so that we don't end up with some crazy villain like Hal in 2001, a Space Odyssey right. We actually do want somebody more like Data in Star Trek a good, good robot. I can't believe I'm having this conversation, but I'm being serious. I think it's really important for people to feel empowered, to know what this is about and to really walk through the process of loving technology, understanding technology, using technology and then making sure we have the safeguards in place. And here's my final thought Please understand that AI is a mirror.
Carmen Lezeth:It really is, and when you interact with it, it is going to mirror back to you whatever it is you're asking of it. For example, if I say I am having a really bad day, can you please give me this information that I've been looking for and can't figure out, it's going to then say oh Carmen, I'm so sorry, you're having a bad day. I hope this will make you feel better. Here's the information that's mirroring, right, that's reflecting back. We teach people to do this when they're managing teams or whatever, right? Or you're trying to calm people down, right? You say I hear you, and here's the information I want to give you. So AI is a mirror. It mirrors back what we want and that's why it feels good, because it validates us. It makes us feel good and, like I said earlier, I don't feel bad when I ask it to explain something to me, like I'm a 10-year-old, and I don't feel bad about asking the dumbest questions that I would never want to ask someone else. I'll be honest with you.
Carmen Lezeth:The other day I asked how do you add this set of numbers correctly? Do you do pluses first, or multiplication? Because I forgot and I have to tell you I did. I just forgot. I haven't had to do any of this multiplication and stuff for so long that I just forgot how to do it. So I asked that question.
Carmen Lezeth:But normally that's not something. I would call up one of my girlfriends and be like girl, do you know how to do this math formula? You know what I mean. It's not something I would ask someone to do. So that's the great thing about AI it mirrors and it helps you and it's there to assist you, but it's not human. It's not human.
Carmen Lezeth:So I want you to stay informed. I want you to be on point. I want you to remember it is more like a hammer. It is a tool that we are using for a very specific reason. I want you to feel comfortable learning and using it to help you with everything you need every single day, because I use it every single day on so many levels and it's amazing. It's been life changing. So, yeah, I hope that was helpful. I'm so glad that you're here. Thank you so much for taking the time.
Carmen Lezeth:If you have more that you want to know about AI and I can be of any assistance, please reach out to me. My email is on allaboutthejoycom. You'll see it in the contact area. You can send me a message and I'll be happy to respond to you specifically. If you have a specific question, no problem, and please don't feel bad about it at all. I totally understand. Please visit us on Friday nights for our Friday night live hangouts. That's at 6 pm Pacific, 9 pm Eastern. We have so much fun. We have so many people who are hanging out with us. I really am so grateful for that. But thank you for all your support and yeah, we'll see you next time. And but thank you for all your support and, yeah, we'll see you next time. And don't forget, at the end of the day, it really is all about the joy. Thanks for stopping by. All About the Joy. Be better and stay beautiful folks, have a sweet day.
