ChatGPT's Strengths and Limitations - What AI Does Well vs Poorly
AI might seem all-powerful, but it actually can't do many things. Know its pros and cons to avoid disappointment and use it well!
Hello!
Ever been disappointed after using AI thinking it was all-powerful?
"I heard ChatGPT does everythingโwhy can't it do this?"
It's okay, AI has things it's good at and things it can't do!
Today I'll honestly organize AI's strengths and limitations!
What AI Really Excels At
1. Automating Repetitive Tasks
๐ก Jobs AI handles perfectly
- Sorting 100 emails
- Entering and organizing data
- Translating documents
What's boring and time-consuming for humans,
AI finishes in seconds!
2. Finding Patterns
AI is much faster than humans at finding rules in enormous amounts of data!
3. Creating Drafts
๐ก Use smartly for draft creation
- Outlining blog posts
- Structuring presentations
- Creating email templates
Even if not perfect, creating a starting point is really useful!
4. Idea Brainstorming
When thinking alone only produces 5 ideas,
AI easily creates 100!
5. Learning Helper
๐ก Use AI for studying like this
"Explain quantum mechanics so middle schoolers can understand"
"Teach me basic Spanish grammar"
"Explain why this code error occurred"
Its ability to simplify complex concepts is really good!
What AI Can't Do (or Should Be Careful With)
1. True Creativity
AI can only combine existing data.
Completely new concepts or revolutionary ideas are difficult.
Examples:
- AI-drawn pictures โ Combination of existing art styles
- AI-written novels โ Reconstruction of existing novel patterns
- AI-made music โ Variations of existing music
Truly new art movements or revolutionary theories only humans can do!
2. Latest Information (Varies by Model)
ChatGPT's free version only knows data up to April 2023.
Example:
Question: "Tell me the 2024 Olympics gold medalists"
AI: "Sorry, I only have information up to April 2023."
๐ก Need latest information?
- Gemini (real-time search possible)
- ChatGPT Plus (web search plugin)
- Perplexity AI (search with sources)
3. Accurate Calculations
AI often can't handle complex math well.
Example:
Question: "What is 3827 ร 5492 = ?"
AI: "Approximately 21,012,004" (Wrong! Correct answer is 21,015,484)
For math calculations, using a calculator or Excel is much more accurate!
๐ก Tip: ChatGPT Plus can do accurate calculations using the Wolfram Alpha plugin.
4. Emotions and Empathy
AI can imitate emotions but doesn't truly feel them.
Example:
Question: "I'm feeling down today"
AI: "I see, what happened?" (Pretending to empathize)
But AI doesn't actually understand or empathize with your feelings.
Important decisions or deep concerns should be shared with people!
5. Hallucination Phenomenon
AI sometimes makes plausible lies!
Example:
Question: "Tell me Korean Nobel Prize winners"
AI: "Former President Kim Dae-jung received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000..." (True)
"Writer Lee Hyo-seok was nominated for Nobel Literature Prize in 1987." (False!)
It sounds factual but can be completely fabricated information.
โ ๏ธ Always double-check important information!
6. Deep Context Understanding
Long conversations or complex situations easily lose context.
Example:
Start of conversation: "I want to learn Python"
(After 100 lines of dialogue)
Question: "How did we do that?"
AI: "What are you referring to?" (Forgot)
As conversations get long, it forgets the beginning!
Let's Organize by Situation
Things AI Does Perfectly
Task | AI Rating | Reason |
---|---|---|
Draft creation | โญโญโญโญโญ | Fast and diverse idea provision |
Translation | โญโญโญโญ | Good for general text (careful with technical terms) |
Code writing | โญโญโญโญ | Basic code OK (complex code needs review) |
Summarization | โญโญโญโญโญ | Excellent at condensing long texts |
Brainstorming | โญโญโญโญโญ | Quickly suggests diverse ideas |
Things AI Struggles With
Task | AI Rating | Reason |
---|---|---|
Accurate calculation | โญโญ | Easily makes mistakes with complex formulas |
Latest information | โญโญ | Doesn't know info after training cutoff |
Emotional counseling | โญโญ | True empathy impossible |
Legal/medical advice | โญ | Liability issues + lack of accuracy |
Completely new creation | โญโญ | Can only combine existing things |
Practical Usage Guide
When to Trust AI
โ When creative ideas are needed
- Get 10 blog topic recommendations
- Company team building activity ideas
โ When drafts are needed
- Email writing
- Presentation outlines
โ When using as learning helper
- Simple explanations of difficult concepts
- Viewing example code
When to Be Careful with AI
โ ๏ธ When making important decisions
- Medical diagnosis
- Legal advice
- Financial planning
โ ๏ธ When fact-checking is important
- Writing academic papers
- Writing news articles
- Historical facts
โ ๏ธ When personal information is needed
- Never enter social security numbers
- Never enter account numbers or passwords
How to Use Wisely
1. Think of AI as a Tool
AI is a helper, not a complete replacement.
Bad usage:
Leave everything to AI without review
Good usage:
AI creates draft โ I review and edit โ Final completion
2. Double-Check
Always verify information AI gives you!
Especially:
- Statistics
- Historical facts
- Quotations
- Expert knowledge
3. Use According to AI's Strengths
What AI does well:
- Automating repetitive tasks
- Idea brainstorming
- Draft creation
- Learning help
What AI struggles with:
- Accurate calculation
- Emotional judgment
- Ethical decisions
- Latest information
How Will It Develop in the Future?
Things Being Improved
1. Reduced Hallucinations
- Newer AI models have fewer hallucinations
- AI citing sources emerging (Perplexity, Bing Chat)
2. Real-Time Information Access
- More AI with integrated search functions
- Can provide latest information
3. Multimodal AI
- Processes text + images + voice simultaneously
- GPT-4V (Vision), Gemini 1.5, etc.
Still Difficult Things
- True emotional understanding
- Completely new creation
- Complex ethical judgment
- Long-term context maintenance
Wrapping Up
AI is a powerful tool but not all-powerful.
Key Summary:
- AI excels at repetitive tasks, draft creation, idea brainstorming
- Struggles with accurate calculation, latest info, emotional empathy
- Important information always needs double-checking due to hallucinations
- Think of AI as a tool, humans make final decisions
In the next article, I'll organize free AI services you can use by category!
You can utilize powerful AI plenty without spending money.
Next Article Preview: ๐ Complete Guide to Free AI Services You Can Try