Name: How to get started with AI chatbots | BBC Ideas
Uploaded: 2025-10-07T17:55:40.000Z
Duration: 5 min 2 s
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Even if you haven't used it yourself, you might have heard about it or come across social media posts using it, pictures of how friends might look in 20 years time, or as an action figure doll.

Generative Artificial Intelligence is a computer technology capable of creating text, images, audio and videos incredibly quickly.

Every day, hundreds of millions of people use Genai to write emails, develop ideas, and

You access generative AI through a chatbot it's like having a conversation.

Every time you ask an AI chatbot a question or prompt it to perform a task, it predicts what you would like as a response, based on analyzing millions and millions of pieces of data that it's already cataloged.

You can even get it to answer with a particular tone, for example chatty, funny or deadly serious.

Or if you're using audio, a particular voice.

It's getting so good at this it can almost feel like chatting to a person.

Chatbots like Copilot or chatgpt can be used as assistants that can help with a range of tasks, everything from prioritising your to do list to planning your next holiday or drafting a best man speech.

So how do you get started with an AI chatbot?

Getting set up with an account is pretty straightforward.

If your school or employer already has guidelines, follow their instructions.

Once you're set up, start asking IT questions and see how it responds.

It's easy to be impressed when it rewrites your CV or plans a round the world trip for you in seconds.

But before you start relying on it, you need to understand a few key things.

Firstly, the responses you get can look and sound very convincing, but

that doesn't mean they're right or the information in them is true.

Known as AI hallucinations, there have been cases where chatbots have advised users to add glue to pizza, eat rocks, or given dubious medical or legal information.

You really do need to check the information they give you against reliable sources.

And that doesn't just mean a quick cross check with Google.

Most search engines now provide summaries to queries which are themselves generated by AI, so they can also be misleading.

So don't just copy and paste what the chatbot spits out.

You could be sharing incorrect or even dangerous information.

And you'll notice the phrasing can come across as inauthentic and not like you.

Secondly, every time you enter a question or share information with a chatbot, you're helping to train it, making it more intelligent if you like.

So a simple rule is to always ask yourself, would I be happy sharing this information with someone on a bus?

Am I okay with Google, Microsoft or another technology company storing this information about me forever and potentially using it to train their AI systems?

Be really careful before entering private or sensitive personal information.

If you're using it for work, always follow your employer's data privacy guidelines.

Thirdly, Genai uses up a huge amount of energy.

Providing an AI response needs about 10 times more electricity than a Google search and vast amounts of water.

Its capabilities aren't necessary for really basic questions like what's the weather in Sydney today?

But when you do use it, how can you get the most out of it?

Asking questions, also known as prompts, in the right way really matters.

Be specific, provide context and be prepared to start again and rephrase if you want a better response.

Suggest a packing list for a weekend in Paris in June which includes formal and casual clothing appropriate for a 30 year old British woman.

Should get you a much more useful answer than what do I need for visiting Paris?

If you want help with an email, give them information about who you're writing to and how you want to come across.

Help me draft an email to the council asking for a parking ticket refund.

Using a polite but persuasive tone should give you a better draft than make the council give me my money back.

And of course, check the draft is correct and expressed in the way you want it to be.

Remember, Generative AI has created a set of handy tools, but

they aren't perfect and you definitely need to cross check everything they say.

There's a lot more to AI chatbots than we can squeeze into a short film, but

Watch the other videos in this series to learn more about how AI can save you time, how to avoid AI scams, and

If you enjoyed that, be sure to check out these videos next.

And if you haven't already, hit the subscribe button and click the bell to get a notification Each time we upload a new video.

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How to get started with AI chatbots | BBC Ideas

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