It has been only two and a half years since the latest artificial intelligence technology was released to the public, yet it has wiggled into our all corners of our lives in the form of generative AI. What does that mean, exactly? Well, we are now capable of communicating with AI systems using natural language. Yes, our vernacular, as we speak and write it. Even as we sing it. Not only does it ingest our language, no matter how we mangle it, the AI responds intelligibly!
Or perhaps I should say in a most erudite manner. Or as a four-year-old or as a wizard who turned all frogs into dragonflys. And it learns. And … It is exhibiting what we call “emergent” capabilities. In other words, it is doing more than generating human language.
You might wonder what, exactly it can do for you. That is why I have plunged into the world of Prompt Engineering, to learn what exactly it can do for us. And that is why I wrote Conversing with AI: A Handbook for Writers. I want to share with the writing world a bit of the elephant.