The internet's smartest chatbot might never be OEM certified

I'm not a tech-forward guy. 

I get a new iPhone only when my current one needs replacement, and CCJ's IT staff basically has to strong arm me into updating my laptop's operating system. It's really easy for me to miss major headlines in consumer technology simply because this is a field that doesn't interest me. 

Several weeks ago, a friend asked for my thoughts on ChatGPT. Of course I responded, "Is that some kind of Snapchat?" He explained the reality: it's an artificial intelligence chatbot and "if you ask it a question, it will give you an answer."

Isn't that what Google does?

Not wanting to be left further behind I thought I'd check it out. You quickly hit the ChatGPT registration wall. Something is unsettling about giving a self-learning AI platform your email address and cell phone number. I doubt John or Sarah Connor would approve. 

You can ask ChatGPT questions or you can tell it to do things; for example, write a haiku about puppies. 

ChatGPT “learns” by ingesting information that it’s been fed. In realtime, it regurgitates and paraphrases things written by someone else – after it cross references all the relevant information that it knows – to give you an answer (or to write your haiku).