Welcome to the Manhattanville University Library's guide to generative artificial intelligence for students. Explore the tabs to learn more about what gen AI is and how it can impact your work here.
Generative AI is everywhere -- people are talking about it on social media, on the news, in business meetings, and on college campuses. Opinions are strong and varied on both how and if it should be used.
Everyone seems convinced generative AI will change the world, but what is it?
There are many kinds of artificial intelligence. AI and machine learning have powered many services before ChatGPT. They can predict which inbox an email should go in based on the sender and content or what kinds of products a user might like based on the user's search history.1 Google Translate, launched in 2006, uses machine learning to translate between languages.2 Autocorrect and predictive text in smart phones are powered by machine learning.3 Even Facebook was using it before Meta, when they automatically tagged people in pictures using facial recognition software.4
The difference between generative AI like ChatGPT and these programs is that generative AI creates new material - text, images, or video - based on huge datasets, typically sourced from the wider internet, where previous programs are trained to do a particular task based on limited datasets.5
1. Sullivan, Danny. “How Google Instant’s Autocomplete Suggestions Work.” Search Engine Land, April 6, 2011. https://searchengineland.com/how-google-instant-autocomplete-suggestions-work-62592. ↩
2. Och, Franz. “Statistical Machine Translation Live.” Google Research, April 28, 2006. http://research.google/blog/statistical-machine-translation-live/.↩
3. Kocienda, Ken. “The iPhone’s Autocorrect Is a Blessing and a Curse. A Longtime Apple Designer Explains Why It’s so Hard to Teach Software to Read Your Mind.” Wired, September 4, 2018. https://www.wired.com/story/opinion-i-invented-autocorrect/. ↩
4. Hill, Kashmir, and Ryan Mac. “Facebook, Citing Societal Concerns, Plans to Shut Down Facial Recognition System.” The New York Times, November 2, 2021, sec. Technology. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/02/technology/facebook-facial-recognition.html.↩
5. Marr, Bernard. “The Difference Between Generative AI And Traditional AI: An Easy Explanation For Anyone.” Forbes, August 23, 2023. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2023/07/24/the-difference-between-generative-ai-and-traditional-ai-an-easy-explanation-for-anyone/. .↩
This video answers the following questions for people without a background in technology: