Need a copilot? - I finally got into AI assistance applications
When it comes to artificial intelligence, I've always been a bit reserved and until recently I have tended to hold back from using chat programs and the like. But at some point my curiosity won over and I wanted to try out if there was something such tools could do for me. For some reason, I first came across Copilot, an assistant function from Microsoft, which seems to be based on the well-known OpenAI
Out of curiosity and also due to current events, I asked the following question:
Which countries export and import which goods?
I then wanted to refine the result a little and ask to create a task in which different export and import goods were to be assigned to different countries. I also wanted to see answers and the respective percentages of total exports and imports as well as absolute total values.
I got the result within a few seconds, which I could then copy and paste into a Word document. The visual presentation of the whole task was quite good, although I had to keep asking extra questions to adjust things so that I was really satisfied in the end.
It's actually a really great thing, because at least I didn't have to do any research. According to the application, the information is based on data from 2023; supposedly there is no new data for all public data that could be used to create such a list. Well, at least this data gave me a fairly clear overview of what comes from which countries and what is shipped there.
The refinements to my query did take some time, but if I had tried to find and compile this information on the Internet myself, it would probably have taken me even longer. I explicitly wanted to turn the whole thing into a “quiz”, and it became clear that the correct formatting and presentation was still up to the user.
Later, I asked for a “Easter detective riddle” which I wanted to use with the little ones and for which I had linked a similar exercise I found on the Internet. The result still needed some fine-tuning, which again took time. But it was still quite interesting to see what could be possible if you knew the whole thing a little better and approached it with the right prompts, i.e. questions and instructions.
Well, at least I've now got into the whole thing about AI assistance applications myself and now I know what everyone is talking about when the subject comes up. So far, I've usually had a lot of fun pulling my own information from the depths of the internet, but with Copilot and the like, it's probably a lot quicker. And if you can save a little time somewhere, that's probably a pretty decisive argument for delving a little deeper into some new options.
I guess I'll be doing this more often now, as I can easily imagine a number of things where this will prove to be practical and useful. And by doing so, I might even discover a way or an idea to get closer to fulfilling my own dreams.
Wouldn't that be great?!
