Current Limitations of AI

The first thing you need to know about AI (such as ChatGPT or other such programs) is both its strengths and weaknesses. I will discuss ChatGBT, but my comments apply to any AI model. As of now (2025), they only work by “predictive association” and will likely not work logically through reasoning for another five years or more. To make the association clearer, let me provide a straightforward example. Say you write the word “Mary” as your prompt. 

1.         ChatGPT searches its massive database for text associated with the term Mary, creating a bell-shaped curve. All responses go under the curve, each at a different standard deviation from the mean (and you thought you would never hear that term after high school). Then, it picks the likely work associated with that term. 

2.         As you make your prompt more complete, the responses get better, more precise, and closer to what you are looking for. Assume you expand your prompt to Mary has a little. It is enough for Chat GBT to predict what you are looking forlamb.

3.         If the AI’s database has only 1,000 articles, it might lamb, but it will surely catch the correct phrase if the database holds millions of articles. The version and cost you are paying for are mostly related to the search engine’s predictive ability and the size of the database.

4. Another limitation of the database is that it only holds articles that are at least several years old and generally older. It is not a “web crawler” searching the Internet looking for new information that has been posted in the last 24 hours. For that reason, you should update your findings using Google or other search engines.

5.         AI cannot now do logical functions, such as, “of the number is less than 5, assume ___; else assume ____.” If you look at Microsoft Excel, you can obtain a comprehensive list of normal logical functions, and in the years to come, that will likely be integrated into AI.

Ask Chat GBT for Help:

The phrase “Drill, Baby, Drill” is particularly apt for finding answers on AI. Just as you drill for oil and see nothing, you drill deeper and deeper. So it is for AI. AI may return a generic and unhelpful commentary, but you refine your ask (“prompt”) to get more precise and zero in on precisely what you want. Remember, it involves matching associated words based on probability; your vocabulary is essential.

Many people are unaware, unless they’ve taken a class in “prompt writing,” that ChatGPT can be valuable assistance. You can harness the power of AI to help you find the answer. Assume you want to know about a specific aspect of the atomic energy policy of the US in 1952. You might start with an overview of the overall field.

>>     Summarize the United States atomic energy policy in 1952 in not more than five paragraphs.

>>     Outline the 10 key points of the United States atomic energy policy in 1952.

Using this example, assume one of the 10 key points ChatGPT returned was “President Eisenhower created atomic energy commission to regulate US peaceful atomic projects.” You then might drill deeper using that particular point. 

>>     Summarize in not more than five pages the creation, goals, and objective of the Atomic Energy Commission in 1952 to regulate US peaceful atomic projects.

>>     Formulate ten good questions for me to ask you about the creation, goals, and objectives of the Atomic Energy Commission in 1952 to regulate US peaceful atomic projects.

Big Topics and Big Blank Page:

If you are uncertain how to proceed, ask ChatGPT to suggest the correct approach. Tell the AI at what level of writing you want (doctoral, college student, English professor, high school student), how long you want the results, the formatting, and the scope of the article. 

>>     I am trying to write a college term paper about how and why President Eisenhower created the Atomic Energy Commission to regulate US peaceful atomic projects. Suggest five different approaches I can take to write such a paper, then summarize the benefits of each approach. Finally, suggest the best approach from the five options.

>>     Whenever I ask a question, suggest an alternate way to ask that question that might provide better answers.

>>     Before you answer the above question, suggest five better questions to ask that will help you formulate a more precise answer to my question. When you have enough information, then answer my original question.

>>     I’m wondering what to ask next. What do you suggest?

>>     I have so many pages of notes from you that I am a little confused. Summarize in five short paragraphs what we have discussed so far.

>>     Assume you were a PhD student in chemistry; how would you research______?

You can also provide Chat GPT with a result and ask it to write about that topic. Such areas are one of the places where AI can shine (but realize the limitations of AI with predictive association). 

>>     During a psychology evaluation of a patient, the person said, “When I was five, I was raped.” When a ten-page analysis of her condition suggesting approaches to future treatment and her future prognosis is completed.

>>     Give me the primary reasons Dwight D. Eisenhower did not want to run for a second term unless asked. In answering, use all the facts available to you (but only the ones that make sense based on what you know) and which facts you know to be true. Don’t make up any facts. If you make any assumptions, list those assumptions at the end of the paper. Write a well-organized thesis in ten pages, with double spacing between paragraphs. 

>>     I want to learn to play the piano. Write five pages on how I can best learn the skills to develop my untried talent. Give me simple tasks that I can complete before moving on to more challenging skills. 

Finally, if you are approaching a thesis, mammoth project, or book and want to get an idea of how to proceed, ASI can do all the heavy lifting for you in the early stages. You need only ask.

Assume I am a business low-level manager in a big corporation, and I want to write a book on personal finance. Draft an outline on the field of personal finance. But base your results on a bullet-point outline of the entire field that should be included in a general book. After you have done the outline, ask me questions. Ask me which bullet points you would explain in more detail. Each time I ask new questions, and you give me new answers, then revise and create a new outline of the book. 

>>     When you outline chapter two, fill in the content with not more than five pages, double-spaced. However, don’t repeat anything that is already in the outline in other chapters. You can mention an area of interest discussed in another chapter as a reference as long as you indicate that it is a reference to a different chapter. 

>>     Make your article sound more persuasive and provide more facts to support your ideas. Make the article easier to read for someone with no legal or medical background. 

>>     You wrote an article on the positive aspects of _____ and another article on the negative aspects of _____. Compare the two articles and present the results in a table from five rows with two columns. Each row should be an area of comparison, with no more than three sentences per item. 

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Ted is a retired attorney, so he is writing only as a layperson. This article provides general information only and is not for a particular situation; it should not be construed as advice. It is provided without express or implied warranties of any kind, including but not limited to implied warranties or merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. If you have a particular problem seek advice from a CPA, attorney, or doctor. Sorry, my attorneys made me say all that!

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