ChatGPT is what many people use as the generic term for any Generative AI program.
Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence system/model that uses already existing data (images, writings, music, etc) to create new content automatically from prompts (i.e. instructions, questions, descriptions) provided by the user. While ChatGPT is the best known, other systems include Google Bard, Microsoft OpenAI in Bing, and DALL-E.
We can also let ChatGPT explain what it is for itself:
Prompt: Can you explain generative AI to me, but assume I have no knowledge of computers.
ChatGPT Answer:
Generative AI uses a special kind of program called a neural network. Think of a neural network as a complex mathematical model that learns from examples. For example, if you show it thousands of pictures of cats, it will learn to recognize patterns in those pictures that represent cats. Then, when you ask it to generate a new image of a cat, it uses what it has learned to create a new and unique cat image.
This ability to generate new content based on patterns learned from existing data is what makes generative AI so powerful and versatile. It can be used in many different fields, from creating art and music to assisting in scientific research and helping solve complex problems.
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