My class got to try out GPT-4 this week. My main takeaways

So, I took a class that required us to use GPT-4 for a week. I’m in law school. We had to use it for a legal research and writing class, and here are my takeaways on how it helped and how it didn’t:<br><br>1. I love the idea of asking GPT where I can find something. I’m a so-called “digital native” and I feel like I’m decent at searching for websites and other digital thing, but there are so many instances when I feel like I’m hitting road blocks in law school where I just can’t find what I’m looking for. I’ve done law firm internships and worked for a judge, but I’m still pretty dumb at finding some things, so I feel like this could really help me out. Just GPT-4 on my computer, and I could find pretty much anything I’m looking for in a snap.<br><br>2. GPT-4 suggested a few sources I wouldn’t have found that I used. GPT-4 suggested some sources for my argumentative essay (actually, I think it was GPT-3.5 that did that? I’m not really sure at this point. I feel like they’re the same thing.), and they were helpful. However, GPT-4 can sometimes feel like it’s just throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks, so I don’t want to give it too much credit for that. However, even if they feel random, I’m not sure how I would have landed on them.<br><br>3. I had a lot of trouble with GPT-4. I feel pretty dumb at this point, but I just can’t get it to do what I want sometimes. I feel like I would ask GPT one thing, and it would do what I asked, but with some sort of random caveat. That’s frustrating. I also had a lot of trouble with it running out of characters and complaining about that. I feel like I was asking it to paraphrase things for me too, and I don’t know if I have to pay for that if it’s not GPT-4. I hate hate hate that there are so many GPT models and I feel like I’m being nickel and dimed to use them. I hate that the characters run out. It’s like, just give me a clean GPT-4 experience, and I’ll pay for it. I’m willing to fork over a pretty decent amount of money for that. But at this point, it’s just too confusing, and I’m not going to pay for something that is confusing.<br><br>4. I think my classmates are giving it a lot of credit. I know I’m just trying to be the cool kid who doesn’t jump on the bandwagon, but I feel like a lot of my classmates are giving GPT-4 credit where credit is not due. Like, I talked to one of my classmates about it, and he was like “yeah, I can do all my reading for class in 10 minutes and I just get a summary from GPT.” Like, where is he getting the money for that? Like, I’m pretty sure that’s not GPT-4, and I just don’t know many people who can afford a model like that. I also don’t think he’s right. I saw a post from another student who was like, “GPT-4 said this, but I’m pretty sure it’s wrong.” And I feel like I’m seeing posts like that a lot. I hate being the bearer of bad news, but… GPT-4 isn’t here yet. Like, I’m not going to argue that it’s close, but I saw a post from another student who was like, “I feel like I’m not really learning anything at this point.” And I don’t know. I have to disagree. I think we still need to learn a lot. That’s my main takeaway. I saw a post from another student who was like, “I feel like GPT could write my whole essay, but I’m just going to make sure I cite.” I feel like you’re a very smart person, and you know what you’re doing, and I’m going to give you a lot of credit where credit is due, but I’m not sure if that’s actually true. I feel like a lot of people here are just trying to rev up the hype train.<br><br>5. There is no doubt in my mind that it has a future. I can tell that GPT-4 has a future. It feels like magic. I feel like it’s already here. But I can tell that it’s not here yet. I know that there is a lot that needs fixing, and I’m happy to pay to get there. I just wish that some of these companies would stop playing so many games. I hate the whole “it’s out, but you can’t use it yet.” thing. I’m happy to pay for it. I feel like I’m being used as a guinea pig. It’s pretty clear that I’m just a beta tester at this point so I guess I’ll just have to wait until it’s actually out.