Lesson 2 of 4 · 4 min read
What it's not
"Should I be afraid of it?"
Let's deal with the worries directly, because they're the reason most people never start.
It is not sentient
It doesn't want anything. It doesn't get bored. It doesn't have feelings about you. When it says "I think," that's a turn of phrase, not an inner life.
It is not always right
It can sound completely confident and be completely wrong. We'll cover this in detail — it's important enough to have its own lesson.
It is not connected to your bank account
By default, ChatGPT and the rest can't move money, send emails on your behalf, post for you, or do anything in the real world. They reply to you in a chat box. That's it.
It is not watching you
It doesn't have a camera on you. It doesn't know where you live unless you tell it. It can't see your other apps. Each chat is a fresh conversation in a window.
What it *is*
A patient, knowledgeable, slightly-overconfident assistant that lives in a text box. Useful when you treat it that way. That's all.