Contributors: Cameron Serkland, Luis Bencomo
Introduction
If you have spent any amount of time online or just out and about, you have likely heard of a growing trend in the tech space: Artificial Intelligence or “AI” for short. This article aims to help you understand what AI truly is, some general applications for AI in everyday life, various AI tools that can help you, and how to stay safe in regard to AI usage and interactions.
Demystifying Artificial Intelligence: What is AI?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a broad field in Computer Science that focuses on creating and maintaining systems capable of performing tasks that would otherwise require human intelligence. Such tasks include recognizing patterns, understanding language (written and spoken), and making decisions in different and variable situations.
When you hear the term “Artificial Intelligence” nowadays, it’s most likely in reference to generative artificial intelligence (genAI), a more specific branch of the broader artificial intelligence umbrella. The “generative” part comes from genAI’s ability to generate content such as text, images, videos, and even code.
It accomplishes this via advanced pattern recognition. When someone enters a prompt, the input is tokenized. By tokenized, I mean that the input sentence is split and broken down into smaller pieces. These tokens may be whole words, parts of words, or even punctuation.
The AI then uses patterns it learned during training to predict which tokens are most likely to come next based on the tokens you provided. It generates a sequence of tokens, which are then converted back into normal words and given back to you as an output.
Put simply, the AI is not understanding the text in the same way a human does. Instead, it uses mathematical patterns to predict the most likely response. This is important to understand because many people unfamiliar with generative AI may assume that it is truly intelligent, that it thinks or understands like a human. In reality, it is actually a highly sophisticated predictive model trained on enormous amounts of data.
The next section will go over some of the applications of AI.
Sources:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12525-023-00680-1
https://help.openai.com/en/articles/4936856-what-are-tokens-and-how-to-count-them
https://www.c-sharpcorner.com/article/what-is-tokenization3/
Some Applications of AI
Now that you understand AI better, this section will discuss some general applications of AI to your day-to-day life and the tools used to perform these functions.
The first application that comes to mind is generating messages. Regardless of your occupation, you likely have some emails or texts that you struggle with. This might be typical business correspondence, responding to a customer, communicating with a professor, or even sending a professional message to a coworker.
Generative AI tools can help you come up with a rough draft. You can tell the tool what points you want to convey, and it will quickly write up a draft meeting the set criteria. Furthermore, it can even adapt to your needs by adjusting the tone of the message (professional, friendly, etc.) based on your prompt.
For example, you might want to swap shifts with a coworker because you found out you have some urgent business that suddenly came up. You want to be professional, but the urgency of the situation makes it difficult to carefully write the message. You might prompt an AI tool with the following: “Please write me a professional, concise message to my coworker Bob asking to swap shifts with him because something urgent came up.” The AI will then quickly write up a rough draft for you, which you may refine with further prompts, spruce up on your own, or send as is (if you are satisfied with the draft).
This can save you time and stress, and help you communicate more effectively, especially in situations in which communication is key. However, you should never send an AI-generated message without properly checking it first, since AI tools can make mistakes or generate incorrect information. Additionally, it is important to avoid an overreliance on AI tools for skills such as writing, as your own abilities may weaken if they are not regularly used.
Another excellent application of AI is summarizing information. For example, you may have a lot of responsibilities, and your boss, at the last second, might suddenly give you a large report to dig through. You skim through to get the gist, but you want to make sure you didn’t miss any important details. In situations like this, you could use an AI tool such as ChatGPT or Gemini to summarize the information.
You might use a prompt such as: “Read through the attached report and concisely generate bullet points summarizing the information. Include the page numbers for reference.”
The AI can then help you review the material more thoroughly and efficiently. That said, it is very important to verify the generated summary against the original document, since AI can get information wrong, miss context, or miss details. That is part of why prompting it to include page numbers can be a big help. When used effectively, AI tools can save you a lot of time.
This can also be useful in everyday situations outside of work. For example, students can summarize lecture notes, and individuals can summarize long emails, articles, or instructions. This allows users to quickly understand the most important points without reading everything in full detail.
That said, as with the previous section, it is important to warn against overreliance. Reading is a skill that, if not nurtured, can diminish with lack of use. Additionally, for more interpersonal messages, people may be hurt if they find out that you did not read through their message yourself. As with all things in life, moderation is key.
The last application that this section will cover is learning and seeking out new information. If you ever find yourself wondering something you don’t know, AI can help you satisfy your curiosity and learn more about the world around you.
Before AI, search engines were the primary tool for this purpose, and they are still extremely useful. However, AI tools can make the learning process more interactive. Instead of digging through multiple websites, you can ask a question directly and receive an explanation in plain language.
The AI can then provide an easy-to-understand explanation, and you can ask follow-up questions if the answer is unclear or if you want to learn more. This makes AI an effective and easy-to-use tool for exploring new topics, understanding unfamiliar concepts, and getting a general understanding of a subject.
You can even prompt the AI to suggest sources or topics for further reading. However, you should always verify information using trusted sources, since AI can sometimes generate incorrect, incomplete, or outdated information. AI is best used as a springboard for learning, rather than as the primary source.
The next section will introduce you to some beginner-friendly AI tools that you can use to try these applications for yourself.
AI Tools for Beginners
Now that you understand some of the functions that AI can perform, this section will help you know some of the AI tools available and how you can use them. Many of these tools are designed to be user-friendly and require little-to-no technical background.
One of the most popular types of AI tools is the AI chatbot. Chatbots allow you to type questions or requests in plain language and receive responses very quickly.
Some beginner-friendly AI chatbots include:
- ChatGPT by OpenAI – ChatGPT is an AI tool with a large user base. As the name suggests, it is styled in a text chat format, where you type in some message (prompt) and receive a response based on your message. It can be used for the purposes listed in the previous section, as well as things like brainstorming ideas and generating images.
- Gemini by Google – Gemini performs many of the same tasks as ChatGPT, with the addition of integration with many Google services such as Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Docs. This integration allows Gemini to work with content from those services when given permission. Additionally, Google also offers a related tool called NotebookLM, which is designed to help users understand and work with their own documents.
- Copilot by Microsoft – Copilot is an AI assistant integrated into the Windows operating system (as of Windows 11), Microsoft Word, and other Microsoft Office applications. It can help draft documents, summarize text, and assist with productivity tasks such as slide creating, drafting emails, and managing schedules. It can also be used to navigate your operating system and ask questions relevant to your system.
In addition to AI chatbots, there are some AI tools specially designed for certain tasks such as image generation. These tools allow you to create images by describing what you want in text. One example might be “an orange cat in Picasso’s art style.” The tools will take that prompt and generate an image based on your prompt. Some of these tools are free, such as DALL-E by OpenAI, while others require payment, such as Midjourney by Midjourney Incorporated.
That said, you should not present AI-generated images as your own original work. AI-generated images are created using patterns learned from large training datasets that include many existing artworks, some of which may be part of the dataset without explicit permission from the artist. As such, it is important to ensure that you are using AI-generated images responsibly.
Some applications even have built-in AI features. For example, email services might suggest responses or summarize messages. Smartphones may include AI assistants that respond to voice commands, summarize phone calls for your notes, and even help organize your calendar.
Most of these tools offer free versions, making them accessible to beginners who want to explore and learn. The best way to become more comfortable with AI is to experiment with these tools and see how they respond to different prompts.
However, it is important to understand the limitations and risks of these tools before you use them.
Stay Safe
This section will stress the importance of staying safe while using AI tools and services. AI is capable of many great things, but there are also many potential risks. This section will go over some of these risks and how to avoid/mitigate them.
The first risk is atrophying of skills due to over-reliance on AI, which was briefly discussed previously. If you over-rely on AI tools to write, summarize, and read through various materials for you, you may find that your ability to perform such tasks weakens. This is because performing these tasks reinforces your ability to perform them, so outsourcing the work to an external tool causes skill atrophy.
This atrophy doesn’t just apply to skills, either. It can also apply to your brain. A study conducted by researchers at MIT found that participants who relied on an AI assistant to write essays showed lower levels of brain connectivity and engagement compared to those who wrote without AI assistance. These are associated with weaker memory recall.What the researchers found is that, while the tools did make tasks easier and quicker, they reduced the mental effort required to actively process and organize information. This phenomenon, which is referred to as “cognitive offloading,” can limit the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills when AI tools are used excessively.
This does not mean that AI tools should never be used. Rather, it means they work best as occasional assistants rather than replacements. For example, you might find it helpful to make use of AI to occasionally brainstorm ideas or review your work. However, you should also ensure that you regularly practice skills such as writing, researching, and critically thinking on your own in order to maintain and improve those abilities.
The second risk involves your privacy and personal information. Many people do not realize that AI tools are services that process and store user data. For example, all of your conversations with a chatbot may be saved on company servers, depending on the service and the tool’s settings.
As such, you should be careful about what information you share with AItools, as that information might be saved. As a general rule, you should avoid sharing sensitive personal information such as passwords, Social Security numbers, financial information, private medical information, and confidential work documents.
While companies such as Google, OpenAI, and Microsoft have privacy policies that explain how user data is handled, the safest personal practice is to assume that anything you write or share with an AI tool will be stored or reviewed. As such, practice good judgment about what you are willing to share in order to help protect your privacy.
The third risk involves emotional dependence and mental health considerations, especially in regard to AI chatbots. Because AI chatbots are designed to respond in a conversational and helpful manner, some users may begin to rely on them for emotional support, validation, or personal advice. While these responses may feel helpful, it is important to understand that AI does not truly understand emotions, personal experiences, or individual circumstances. It generates responses based on patterns in data, not genuine care or awareness.
For most people, using AI in this way occasionally may not cause harm. However, individuals who are already experiencing loneliness, anxiety, depression, or other mental health challenges may be more vulnerable to over-reliance. Relying on AI as a primary source of emotional support may reduce motivation to seek help from trusted friends, family members, or qualified professionals.
Additionally, AI responses are not always appropriate or accurate for complex personal or psychological situations. This is because AI does not truly understand human emotions or individual life experiences. Instead, it generates responses based on patterns in its training data, which cannot fully represent the complexity of human mental or emotional states. Because of this, AI should never be used as a substitute for professional medical, psychological, or mental health care. If you are struggling with your mental health, it is important to speak with a licensed professional who can provide proper care and support.
When used properly, AI can be incredibly helpful for learning, productivity, and even entertainment. However, it is vital to your emotional well-being for you to maintain healthy human relationships and seek support from real people.
Lastly, it is important to understand that AI tools may generate incorrect or misleading information. This happens because AI predicts responses based on patterns instead of verifying facts in real time. As a result, AI does not reliably recognize when its information is incomplete or uncertain. When this happens, it may generate a response that sounds convincing but is incorrect, incomplete, or outdated.
Because of this, it is important to verify information using trusted sources, especially for medical, legal, academic, and financial topics. Source: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.08872