In a recent survey from Consumer Reports’ advocacy division, nearly two-thirds of respondents said they had not used an AI chatbot in the past six months. A Pew survey last summer also found that most Americans have never tried ChatGPT.
If you’re in the majority of anti-AI fans, you can probably pay a little more attention to chatbots at this point.
Tech geeks may yell at me, but for many tasks, chatbots aren’t worth your time or risk making fatal mistakes. It’s better to use simpler technology.
If you use a chatbot for the wrong purpose, like using a leaf blower to dry your hair, you can be disappointed in the technology.
Here are four examples of what chatbots are suitable for and when they might be the wrong choice.
For now, we recommend that most people start with Microsoft’s image and text AI called Copilot. (Until recently, the chatbot was called Bing. He may have seen the Copilot commercial during the Super Bowl.)
Copilot is one of the latest versions of AI that is free to use. Copilot is available to everyone on the web, iPhone, or Android app.
Recommended: If you don’t know which words to use, try a chatbot.
Don’t: Don’t use it to define words or identify synonyms.
example: “What is another way to say ‘beautiful’ without romantic connotations?”
If you’re having trouble finding the right words, a web search or Merriam-Webster may not be for you. The co-pilot did pretty well.
(If you ask Copilot the exact same question, you’ll probably get different responses. That’s how these chatbots work.)
Not very useful: If you’re looking for the spelling, definition, and synonyms for the word “accustomed,” use an online dictionary or thesaurus.
Execution: Try our chatbot and create cool images from your imagination
Don’t: Use it to find more information about the image.
example: “Produces photorealistic images of red-eared owls flying through space.”
Try it yourself. (You must be signed in to a Microsoft account to generate images with Copilot.)
Creating a strange bird scene is not realistic. Just fun. Perhaps you’ll be generating images for party invitations or brainstorming logos for your potential business.
Not very useful: Take a photo and ask, “What kind of plant is this?”
I used three different photos of houseplants. Microsoft’s Copilot got it right twice. This is Aglaonema. Although I didn’t ask for it, the chatbot also explained the background of the image.
You don’t need unreliable AI chatbots to identify plants, people, landmarks, and logos. Use a plant ID app like Google’s Lens app or Seek.
Execution: Try to summarize long documents.
Don’t: Use for personal recommendations for products, restaurants, travel, etc.
example: “Could you please read this article and summarize it in bullet points?”
This article analyzes how government policies have crushed American companies and empowered Chinese companies in the market for essential internet and telephone equipment.
This engaging essay has an estimated reading time of 80 minutes. His summary from Microsoft’s Copilot wasn’t perfect, but it was so good that I gave it a bad rap.
Not very useful: Chatbots have proven to be hit or miss when it comes to personalized recommendations.
I asked Copilot which road bikes they recommend for hobby cyclists like me who need a bike that’s under $2,000 and comfortable on rough roads.
The co-pilot’s response seemed to parrot the reviews in Cycling Weekly and Cycling News. Copilot also suggested an expensive racing bike that was well beyond my budget and inappropriate for a relative beginner.
Microsoft said it is constantly improving the web results its AI chatbot relies on and is working to “improve the quality of this experience to make it a useful tool for everyone.”
You can also read these cycling websites and skip the chatbots. (I thought it was Google’s Gemini chatbot) many Your bike shopping quest went well. )
If your chatbot spits out an off-topic reply, ask a follow-up question or scold it to make it better. I tried it, but the elegant response was strange and required further investigation. It wasn’t worth my effort.
What to do: Start early when writing something difficult, boring, or unfamiliar.
Don’t: Use these as is
example: My colleague Will Oremus asked CoPilot to design his youth soccer team’s first practice.
Will said the AI’s suggestions were “so-so” but a decent starting point for a novice coach. For the same question he thought the paid version of ChatGPT would be more helpful. Will was hoping for more innovative ideas to make the activity more appealing to children who cannot volunteer to practice soccer.
We previously published examples of how to get the most out of chatbots.
Others have had success getting chatbots to help them write their obituaries after providing an overview of the other person’s life or proposing a rejection message after an awkward first date.
Not very useful: Chatbots constantly create information. Don’t use the text spewed out by a chatbot without editing it. Don’t ask chatbots for factual information. Search on Google or Wikipedia.
