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Discovering ChatGPT today

You learn what ChatGPT really does, what possibilities there may be, and where human control remains necessary.

After this chapterAfter this chapter, you can have a first conversation without confusing ChatGPT with a human, database, or infallible search engine.
Your progress0 of 48 lessons
1.1

What ChatGPT is

ChatGPT generates answers based on your task and the context that is available.

ChatGPT is an AI assistant with which you can work in plain language. It can draft text, provide explanations, organize ideas, and process information from supplied sources. It predicts each time what content is likely to be appropriate. As a result, an answer can sound natural and convincing without being automatically correct.

Treat ChatGPT as a capable assistant that quickly produces a first version. You determine the goal, provide the relevant context, and decide after review what is useful. ChatGPT has no human experience, responsibility, or own insight into your situation.

  • No human or conscious being
  • No guarantee of truth
  • Quite strong in language, structure and iteration
This is how you can use this

Private: convert a messy list into a weekly schedule. Study: ask for a difficult definition in simple language. Work: turn notes into an initial summary.

Try this prompt
Explain in no more than five sentences what you as an AI assistant can do for me. Also mention two limitations that I should always remember.
Quick knowledge check

Which posture is the most reliable?

Your practical assignment

Ask ChatGPT about the same topic once as a brief explanation and once as a step-by-step plan. Note which format helps you the most.

1.2

What ChatGPT can do

ChatGPT can do more than write text, but available features vary by environment and setting.

In addition to chatting, ChatGPT can search for current web information in supported environments, read files, analyze tables, interpret images, and perform larger tasks. Not every feature is always available. Workspace policies, region, device, and subscription may vary.

So don't start with the question of which button or which model is best. Start with the result you need. Describe your goal and add the relevant file, image, or source material when that changes the outcome.

  • Creating and improving text
  • Use files and images where available
  • Search for current information where available
  • A result remains verifiable work, not an automatic fact
This is how you can use this

Entrepreneurship: upload your own product list and request a clear category classification. Study: add a course excerpt and have practice questions made from it.

Try this prompt
I want [result]. What information or which file do you need from me to carry this out carefully? Ask a maximum of three questions.
Quick knowledge check

What is best to start with?

Your practical assignment

Choose a small task and first ask what input is needed. Assess whether the three questions are really relevant.

1.3

Account, chat and interface

The exact interface changes, but the basics remain: choose a workspace, start a chat, and describe your goal.

Go to chatgpt.com or use a supported app and log in. For teamwork, use individual accounts and appropriate workspace functions; do not share a password. In a regular chat, ask questions and work iteratively. For larger tasks, a work mode or project may be more suitable when available.

Leave the default choice when you do not know which model or reasoning mode you need. Increase complexity only if your task requires it. Avoid course content that depends on a button that may move next month.

  • Use your own account
  • Start simple with the default setting
  • Choose a separate chat for a clear result
  • The interface can change
This is how you can use this

Work: start a separate chat for a meeting overview. Private: start a separate chat for your travel planning so topics do not get mixed up.

Try this prompt
I am a beginner user. Help me perform this task in small steps: [task]. Stop after each step so I can check.
Quick knowledge check

Why does this course avoid fixed model names?

Your practical assignment

Open a new chat and perform a simple task. Note where you find the chat history, settings, and new chat.

1.4

Your first usable conversation

A first prompt does not need to be perfect; a clear goal and follow-up questions are more important.

Write in plain language what you want to achieve. Only add context that changes the outcome. Read the answer and adjust it specifically. You don't need to learn a magical formula and you don't need to omit politeness either.

A good first task usually contains a result, relevant background, and a desired form. For an important task, you add a boundary, for example that missing information must be marked instead of invented.

  • Start with the result
  • Add useful context
  • Request a usable form
  • Mark missing information
This is how you can use this

Private: make a feasible weekend plan. Work: write a short reply email. Entrepreneurship: come up with three questions to explore a vague business idea.

Try this prompt
Make a feasible plan for [goal]. Context: [relevant situation]. Give a maximum of five steps. Mark what you still do not know and then ask a maximum of two questions.
Quick knowledge check

What do you do if your first prompt is incomplete?

Your practical assignment

Execute the example prompt for a really small goal. Then ask a follow-up question that demonstrably improves the answer.

1.5

Context within and between conversations

Context can be available within a chat, through projects, personalization, or memory, depending on settings.

Within a conversation, ChatGPT uses previous messages as context. A new conversation has its own transcript, but that does not necessarily mean a completely clean slate. Memory or personalization can carry information across chats if that feature is enabled. Additionally, a project can share files and instructions between related chats.

Never rely solely on automatic memory for critical appointments. Include fixed requirements in your assignment, project instructions, or source document and check what is actually available.

  • Chat context remains within the conversation
  • Memory can transfer context
  • Projects can share resources and instructions
  • Repeat critical requirements explicitly
This is how you can use this

Study: store course resources in a project and use separate chats per learning objective. Business: keep market research and customer communication in separate chats within the same project.

Try this prompt
First summarize which context you are using in this conversation. List assumptions separately. Then only execute my task: [task].
Quick knowledge check

Which rule is the safest?

Your practical assignment

Ask in an existing chat which context is being used. Then start a new chat and compare without sharing sensitive information.

1.6

Limitations and hallucinations

A credible answer can be wrong, outdated, incomplete, or made up.

A hallucination is generated content that is not based on reliable facts. This can be an invented source, incorrect figure, non-existent legal article, or inaccurate summary. Even correct facts can be misleading if taken out of context.

Risk increases with current facts, precise figures, specialized subjects, and decisions with major consequences. Then ask for sources, open the sources yourself, and check whether they really support the claim. Confident language is not proof.

  • Watch out for specific claims without a source
  • Check date and scope
  • Open the primary source
  • Use an expert for high impact
This is how you can use this

Do not only ask about the current interest rate, law, or medical treatment. Ask for up-to-date official sources and let an authorized expert make the decision.

Try this prompt
Give a preliminary answer to [question]. Then make a table with: concrete claim, source needed, currency risk, and how I check this.
Quick knowledge check

What proves that an answer is correct?

Your practical assignment

Ask five facts about a subject you know. Verify at least two outside of ChatGPT and note any discrepancy.

Chapter assignment

Bring everything together

Perform an initial task, improve the answer once, and note which facts or assumptions still need verification.