Human Preservation

Richard Lee on January 4, 2024

As I began to fall in love with ChatGPT in January of 2023, I learned that it was possible to configure a server to run a private GPT environment. This meant I could enjoy all the features ChatGPT offered using my own data, without sharing it with the public ChatGPT and avoiding its tendency to hallucinate.

While exploring this, my overactive brain was drawn to the realm of deep fakes, which use AI to seamlessly combine different aspects of a person into a cohesive whole, creating results otherwise impossible. I wanted to extend my private GPT server to incorporate cloud computing technologies, allowing the creation of real-time deep fakes.

I’m not referring to the deep fakes known for misinformation but rather those used for customer service or as digital twins. Though not widely popular or fully realized yet, the concept intrigued me.

Then, tragedy struck. My best friend and collaborator in intellectual and non-profit endeavors, Dr. Natale Zappia, succumbed to brain cancer. He was a father, husband, friend, teacher, student, brother, and relative to many. Whether you knew him for two days or two decades, his personality was evident. Our projects were just a fraction of his vast experiences. Dr. Zappia, a professor of American and Native American history who authored books and scholarly articles, left a legacy locked within words. Books and articles, for all their extensive research, can feel inaccessible; finding a specific concept can be like searching for a needle in a haystack. As I mourned, I pondered why we don’t keep the memories of our loved ones alive more dynamically. In the Harry Potter universe, photos move and smile. In contrast, future generations often find limited information about their ancestors, despite the seeming abundance of data today. Social media can memorialize someone, but it’s static. What if we could parse this data to train a posthumous AI of that person?

This concept has been in my mind since high school in the eighties, a time when I was already engaged with personal computers and modems, thanks to my tech-savvy father. For a college admission essay, I wrote about using artificial intelligence to scan my grandfather’s computer files to create a digital persona for conversations. That vision now drives my mission at Human Preservation. This service isn’t just for personal memories but also for information created by individuals or organizations.

With the increasing pervasiveness of artificial intelligence in our society, I chose to name my service Human Preservation vs AI Services, emphasizing the human element – you, the hero of your story, and your business.

We are just at the dawn of artificial intelligence, reminiscent of the early days of the web and its burgeoning technologies. Now, as then, AI technologies are accessible and not confined to elite think tanks or universities, offering benefits to both individuals and organizations.

Human Preservation, or HumPre for short (reminiscent of ‘Humphrey’), is a digital agency emerging in today’s landscape of artificial intelligence. Functioning as an integral part of PILLAR, an established IT support company, HumPre represents a fusion of three decades of PILLAR’s experience. Our mission is to steer web development towards ‘bluer waters’—a realm beyond the fiercely competitive ‘red waters’ of the global market. In this innovative ‘blue ocean,’ HumPre is dedicated to collaborating with forward-thinking leaders who are keen to integrate AI into their businesses using their unique, private data. This approach is adaptable for both internal and external initiatives. It encompasses the deep fake technology that I’ve explored and seamlessly incorporated into a private GPT environment, among other advancements. As the possibilities with AI continue to expand and become clearer, HumPre is poised to leverage these innovations to their fullest potential.

The website is www.HumPre.com yet to truly understand what I am doing with AI that can significantly improve businesses that have a lot of data, we will need to talk. Please contact me using the form below or email/call.

Do you, or anyone you know, have questions about how generative AI could elevate their business to the next level? If so, please feel free to refer them to me. I’m here to help explore and unlock the potential of AI for their business needs.

Configuring Your Chat Experience

Richard Lee on January 4, 2024

The Right Click – January 2024 Edition

by Richard Lee

There exists an ongoing conversation about how to hijack ChatGPT to bypass the restrictions and filters programmed into it, which are designed to prevent the generation of harmful text. This harmful content includes:

  • Hate speech
  • Violent content
  • Sexually explicit material
  • Illegal activities
  • Misinformation
  • Personal and sensitive information
  • Self-harm and suicide

For those who believe AI is all doom and gloom, consider that all of the restricted content outlined above is already available on the web and social media today. This availability is arguably a reason why our society faces certain troubles.

However, it’s important to recognize the nuance in this context. All that said, there are good reasons why you’d want your generative AI chatbot to speak to these topics. If you’re a criminal attorney, for example, there are plenty of situations that are not only relevant but critical to your daily practice. Discussing the details of a violent crime, for instance, is essential for legal accuracy and contextual understanding. If you use ChatGPT for creating briefs, the facts of a case may involve harmful content but in the context of the brief and facts, they are indispensable for a comprehensive legal argument.

This underscores the need for a balanced approach to AI’s content restrictions, especially in professional fields where context dramatically alters the nature of such content. This is one of many great reasons to consider private GPT as a solution, as the programmatic restrictions are less and there are humans involved to express the legitimacy of those requests being made. And that’s the work of our latest service: HumPre.

As for hijacking ChatGPT to have it bypass these restrictions, that’s currently not possible. Perhaps the first attempt, let’s say the “Do Anything Now” (DAN) method, worked until it was published. Then, ChatGPT was programmed not to allow any such methods to bypass its restrictions.

Despite the restrictions, there is still so much more assistance that ChatGPT can provide to anyone who would ideally want access to generative harmful content for legitimate purposes. It’s important to understand that the way you word your prompt will also affect your responses. For you wordsmiths, this is your opportunity to re-word the way in which you prompt your ChatGPT.

You can also have ChatGPT assume a persona. In the craft of scriptwriting, it’s been said that you want to get inside the heads of your characters. ChatGPT allows just that. You can describe your character in detail before any conversation with ChatGPT and then ask it to become that character so that you can converse with your character, or the persona you described. The details of your character can be very comprehensive, not just a few lines. So, your prompt or your human creativity will go a long way in empowering ChatGPT to assume this persona.

Personas don’t need to be only for creating movie characters or for general creative writing; they can be used as resident experts. Let’s say you want a personal chef that only provides instructions and doesn’t prepare the food. Since you are both a foodie with food allergies, your ChatGPT personal chef can provide recipes to accommodate your discerning palate. It’s also great at adjusting recipes for more or fewer servings, for example, not having enough eggs. It can even make recommendations on what to substitute for hoisin sauce.

Don’t do what “Steven Schwartz” did. He’s the now-infamous poster boy for ChatGPT hallucinations. Hallucinating is what it’s called when ChatGPT falsifies information in the interest of satisfying your request for content. Mr. Schwartz, an attorney, used ChatGPT to create a legal brief for a judge but failed to proofread what it generated. He would have saved a lot of time and embarrassment. Keeping ChatGPT honest, in case you think it’s hallucinating or fabricating something, is as easy as asking it to provide a source for the information it provided or simply challenging it directly by responding with “I don’t think that’s true.” Also, marking the response by clicking the thumbs down button (found at the bottom of all responses) will indicate to the OpenAI team that it needs attention in that area.

ChatGPT can be used beyond content creation. It’s especially awesome as a teacher. Sure, you can simply ask it to explain the theory of relativity or other tough concepts, or you can ask for those same difficult concepts to be explained using an analogy. That analogy could be something you are already all too familiar with, like a sport or a hobby. Try it out with: “Can you explain the theory of relativity using bread-making as an analogy?”

I used it recently to read through a 15-page agreement I was asked to agree to in order to participate in an AI-based home security program. I asked ChatGPT what points in the document touched on social justice, and it instantly highlighted seven points, one of which was a deal-breaker for me. Think of all the agreements we sign off on as users of apps in the app store, without reading a word of them.

Beyond that, it can also be used for:

  • Programming assistance
  • Language assistance, including legalese and slang
  • Adjusting tone or intention with emails (before sending)
  • Research assistance

ChatGPT is a tool for humanity. The only way to get to know what it can do for you is to simply start using it. Keep the old computer adage in mind: garbage in, garbage out. So, when asking questions, provide details of what you’re looking for.

The Personal Upgrade Class

Richard Lee on January 4, 2024

I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand.
– Chinese Proverb

This is the essence of the Personal Upgrade Class, an immersive training class developed and delivered by Richard Lee. You’ve spent thousands of dollars upgrading your computers, but when was the last time you upgraded yourself?

Ideally delivered in an in-person setting, this training class is unlike any other. In addition to learning numerous methods of becoming more proficient and efficient with your technology, you’ll also have fun. You’ll be able to ask all your questions and immediately apply what you’re learning using your own tablet or laptop. Coffee, food, prizes, and chocolate are also served.

Post-Covid, work-from-home still exists for many of us. As a result, the in-person training can also be conducted and delivered over Zoom. Of course, you’ll have to provide your own coffee, food, and chocolate, and prizes are not available.

Generative AI Training Class – Date to be Determined
This half-day, in-person course will explore all aspects of generative AI using ChatGPT 4.0 for research, learning, creative inspiration, professional writing, and artistic generation. Conversations will also be held about how ChatGPT is being used by other PILLAR customers to inspire your usage. The dangers of generative AI and practices that can be employed to protect your company, staff, and family will also be discussed. Advanced uses of ChatGPT will be demonstrated and explored. This will be a deep dive into ChatGPT and a mind-expanding journey into how else you can use ChatGPT in your life.

You’ll leave with:
– a comprehensive understanding of generative AI technology
– a go-to list of sites to create generative AI text, images, videos and sound
– confidence in using AI to greatly and extensively improve yourself or save enormous time
– smarter than your friends

Interested?

How To Access ChatGPT

Richard Lee on January 4, 2024

The Right Click – January 2024 Edition

by Richard Lee

ChatGPT was developed by OpenAI, whose chief investor is Microsoft. Microsoft also created Edge, an internet browser, and Bing, a search engine. Don’t worry if you have never heard of Edge or Bing because, prior to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, most people hadn’t. Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar investment was a marketing slam dunk for the company. The stock price is finally exciting, and the company’s products have received upgrades that make them even more powerful to use. However, you do not need to go the Microsoft route to access ChatGPT. Here are the many ways of doing so.

No matter the browser you choose to surf the web with, like Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge, you can navigate to the website: chat.openai.com. This is the most direct way of accessing ChatGPT without any bells and whistles.

OpenAI offers ChatGPT access in both free and paid versions. The paid version is a monthly subscription called Plus. The difference between the free and paid versions is that the paid version is faster, offers more reliable access, and provides access to new features. Once you get accustomed to faster and always available access, you may want to splurge for the Plus version. Either version does require you to log in using an email and password combination or the convenience of using your Gmail, Microsoft, or Apple email accounts. The main benefit of logging in is that you’ll see all of your “chat sessions” on various topics and can continue them if you wish, or start a whole new chat. You can even send an entire conversation to someone else, whether they use ChatGPT or not.

The other ways of accessing ChatGPT are Microsoft-centric. Using any preferred browser, navigate to bing.com, and you’ll find that the Microsoft search engine has ChatGPT 4.0 built-in. You do have to specify that by clicking on a tab at the top that reads “Chat with GPT-4.” On that page, it offers some suggestions on how or why to use ChatGPT and even includes the option to choose the conversation style.

Another Microsoft-centric method is to use the Edge browser, which, in its latest update, includes ChatGPT functionality and the ability to use it in many ways, including helping you quickly identify a website’s purpose or information within that website. Be warned, the Edge method can be confusing, but once mastered, it’s very powerful.

The last way to access ChatGPT is by using an Apple iPhone and downloading the app from the Apple Store. Here’s the direct link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/chatgpt/id6448311069. Do note that there is currently no native Android app, so anything you download thinking it’s ChatGPT will not be official.