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In the week school restarted after the Weihnachstferien (Christmas break), temperatures plummeted to -11°C, the Deutsche Bahn – and consequently, the S-Bahn – was on strike and Berlin’s streets were invaded by tractors driven by angry farmers, I have plenty of material to write about but I’ve decided to focus on a totally unrelated topic: ChatGPT.
Since its release at the end of 2022, the chatbot developed by OpenAI has been in the news constantly. We’ve seen headlines about generating fake articles, spreading disinformation, causing security threats and privacy concerns, as well as providing incorrect answers. Moreover, AI poses serious risks, such as job losses, social manipulation, the potential for bias, extinction and "loss of control". I recently read that it also has an extremely negative impact on the climate.
One particularly intriguing story involves an influencer on Instagram, Emily Pellegrini, who, in a few months, has acquired thousands of followers, including famous football players, billionaires and tennis players. The twist? Emily doesn’t actually exist; she has been generated by AI. Apparently, she’s supposed to be realistic, but I’ve never seen a woman with a body shaped like hers.
Wary of the controversy and negativity surrounding AI and ChatGPT, I hadn’t used the tool until recently. However, my curiosity led me to enroll in a course on ChatGPT for writing in November, and the experience turned out to be eye-opening.
For all its faults, I have found ChatGPT to be a valuable tool for generating and correcting text. As a non-native speaker living in Germany, grappling with the intricacies of the language is a challenge. The problem with German grammar is that it’s quite complex. There are three genders, “only” four cases, adjective endings that change based on definite and indefinite article, gender and case… just to name a few difficulties. So, writing in German is especially tricky.
If, like me, you hate making mistakes and feel embarrassed about sending work or official emails, including to your child’s schoolteachers, that have not been proofread, here is where ChatGPT can help.
For years, I’ve been relying on my husband to correct emails and text messages, something he dislikes because of my perfectionism (what’s wrong with that?), a concept he struggles to understand. For him, it’s all about sending out emails and text messages in the shortest time possible, even if they are incomprehensible to the recipient. Mostly I end up replying to him: “Huh?!? What’s that supposed to mean?”
But now, I no longer need to ask my husband, I ask ChatGPT to correct what I’ve written in German and it does a pretty good job, probably as good as a human being. Unfortunately, it’s made me realise that I still make loads of mistakes – which is rather depressing after all these years – but now I have a proofreader and teacher all in one. After all, learning from one’s mistakes is a valuable lesson.
ChatGPT is also useful for brainstorming, analysing complex text, translating and writing Instagram posts (it also suggests emojis). In conclusion, ChatGPT can be helpful for language learners and writers, but remember that you first need to use your own brain before you use artificial intelligence. So don’t send anything out unless you have fact-checked and proofed it yourself.
As I write this on a Friday evening, the temperature is hovering around zero, the Deutsche Bahn strike is coming to end, but the farmers have not yet returned to the countryside and are threatening more strikes. Life is never boring in Berlin, with or without ChatGPT.
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