Twenty times on the job
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, THE PRESS
Eileen Germain owns five looms and two sewing machines.
At 61, Eileen Germain is a young retired teacher who was overflowing with technological and theatrical projects in her intensive English classes. The Quebec City resident is now exploring her passion for textiles and owns five looms and two sewing machines.
In particular, it has a four-frame loom, which allows an infinite arrangement of colors from a pattern.
“I was stuck, I had the colors, I was wondering how to arrange them to make textiles, says Mme Germain. I said to myself: “If you can ask ChatGPT anything, let’s try that!” He told me what color to put after the other, what texture, different ways to arrange the pedals. »
Mme Germain sent us an example of these ‘ChatGPT patterns’, filled with mysterious phrases like ‘blue green twill 2cm’ and ‘linen 5cm chevron back’. She made a bag of the fabric obtained and presented two works, one of her own and the other created by ChatGPT, to her Cercle des fermières. “They all preferred mine. I’m not impressed, he wasn’t inspiring. When we look at a crust or a work of art, we see the difference. »
As she wants to start a business for her creations, she asked ChatGPT for some name suggestions, “giving her precise and quite restrictive criteria”. “He suggested some excellent names. I didn’t take any, but it helped me to change my thinking, my choices and my criteria. Notice to craft lovers: his company will be called Les étiffes du Saint-Laurent.
“There are plenty of people who are going to lose their jobs, that’s clear, believes Mme Germain. It is true that this robot can do a lot of harm, but it can also do good. It will reflect the person using it, like the rest of technology. »
The teacher’s aide
PHOTO FRANÇOIS GERVAIS, THE NEWSLETTER
Nicolas Bourré, a computer science teacher at Cégep de Shawinigan, uses the paid version of ChatGPT to refine his “square” writing, he admits.
Nicolas Bourré is a computer science teacher at Cégep de Shawinigan. He knows about codes and programs, a little less about writing, he admits. “I’m a techno guy, I often write in point form, it’s not very pretty. When I want to write lecture notes, it’s square. »
Whether for his emails, his memos or to reformulate his lecture notes, he uses the paid version of ChatGPT as an assistant. “It costs me US$20 a month. It allows me to save two to four hours a month, it’s not that expensive. »
Nicolas Bourré had fun asking the conversational robot to draw up a lesson plan for him over 15 weeks. “He laid everything out for me from A to Z. He still gave me something interesting, he allowed me to find subjects. But as a professional, I cropped it. We always have to reframe it and know our subject. »
He noticed it, ChatGPT sometimes tends to hallucinate and fool students who do not know the subject well. This is why he considers its use in education to be “double-edged”. “My students need to understand the basics that more experienced people have learned, and they’re not going to get there by using ChatGPT. »
“It’s like my friend!” »
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
“He’s like my friend, someone I brainstorm with!” says entrepreneur and content creator Mélanie Fortin.
Entrepreneur and content creator from Mascouche, Mélanie Fortin uses ChatGPT almost every day. She overflows with enthusiasm for the one who has become a valuable assistant.
“He’s like my friend, someone I brainstorm with!” We think it’s like Google, but it’s not that at all, it’s disarming. »
Examples abound. She needs to come up with a title for a podcast: “I tell her, ‘I want to chat with you, what would be the best name?’ He replies: “Tell me everything, tell me about you, your guests.” I give him all the details. It’s crazy, it’s like a conversation with someone. »
She is well aware that she is giving a lot of information to a system that keeps everything and can reuse it. “There is good, there is danger. But it can really help. For example, I have an online training for leaders, I can’t find a relevant title, it gives me a list of 10 titles. I tell him: “It’s not worse, but can you make them more inspiring?” There are several that I took. Sometimes it’ll just throw me off. »
Recruitment and travel
Julie MacDonald is vice-president, executive recruitment, in a firm specializing in the search for executives and leaders, a “headhunter”, as she puts it. She used ChatGPT to translate resumes and used her particular expertise to find leads for a discussion… about artificial intelligence (AI). “We were exploring with a client how AI could have an impact on recruitment, on the process, on efficiency. »
It is also with this conversational robot that she prepared a trip to Italy. “What are the places to visit in Rome, the best restaurants where locals go? Afterwards, it had to be fine-tuned, but in general, it was impressive. »
More rapid responses
Travel and poem
I use ChatGPT to organize a trip. Quicker to get the list of places and attractions to visit. I still have to validate some information that may not be up to date. As for my spouse, he recently used ChatGPT to write me a poem… If the intention was romantic, the result was a little less so (not to read “kitsch”)…
Anouk Charles, Laval
Keep a critical mind
I love ChatGPT! He’s my new best friend! I use it several times a day. I’m the type who searches everything on Google to find out a little more. With ChatGPT, it’s like my assistant that would do a Google summary for a given topic. It’s about asking the right questions. The more precise and clear the question, the more relevant the answer will be. It helps me with simple things like converting measurements, calculating calories or planning meals. Also, he helps me to create and write various texts, with specific characteristics that I give him. The result is impressive! […] He can produce erroneous answers so I have to keep a critical mind when I read his answers. I plan to use it even more to find out how it can help me more. Who knows… Did he help me write this text…?
Caroline Bastien
Indispensable tool
Since January 2023, ChatGPT has become my everyday companion. First, I often ask him to improve the quality and structure of my communications in French and English. The list is long on the impact of ChatGPT on my daily life. […] I asked for a gourmet recipe for grilled salmon. He gave me a recipe with béarnaise sauce, and it was a treat. Yesterday, I asked him to draw up a legal agreement document with a supplier. He develops blogs for me specialized in the field of social benefits. He revises and corrects in-depth articles in my field of business and improves them. For me, ChatGPT has become an essential tool in the same way as a cell phone or a remote control [de télé].
Danny Boulanger, Shefford
Costa Rica in one click
I’m currently planning a month-long trip to Costa Rica and used ChatGPT to plan the route, simply asking for the shortest route with the most balanced travel. I asked, at the same time, to give me the main points of interest for each destination. The result is more than impressive.
Francois Hebert
Like an electric bike
Me, I’m very excited about the arrival of the AI. I’m a programmer, and in my code editor I have an extension installed that suggests code to me as I develop software. […] There’s even a chat window where I can ask technical questions. Like an electric bike, I see AI as an assistant. I still have to pedal, but it takes less strength. I think it’s great. The advent of the personal computer in the early 1980s scared everyone (we’re going to lose our jobs, the machines are going to take over…), but look now, we have a smart watch that helps us improve our health. I think it will be the same fate for the AI. Of course, we’re going to have to set guidelines, but I’m positive about the future.
Hugo Frappier, Montreal
The next travel agent
We took a recent week-long trip to Paris with the family and carefully planned each day, including restaurants, museum reservations, etc., all based on the arrondissement we were visiting for such a day. All of this took a lot of time, energy and effort. When we got back from the trip, we asked ChatGPT the question: “Planning a week’s visit to Paris for a family with 1 child. The result, apart from reservations: a program almost identical to ours, obtained in a few milliseconds. We will absolutely use it for our next sightseeing trip!
Sebastien Martel