Finding out about Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI Transformation. Introduction to definition, types and applications: A workshop at North Sydney Council 14 August 2025

Presenter: David O”keefe david@auroraconsulting.com.au

“AI won’t replace humans but humans using AI will”

Here are a few highlights from the 3-hour workshop which was presented by the Council.

• “AI’s like ChatGPT are artificial intelligence large language model systems that can mimic human-like speech and reasoning. They do this by training on a vast library of existing human communication, from classic works of literature, scientific studies to large swaths of the internet. 
• “ChatGPT’s main claim to fame is it was the first publicly available…Specifically, ChatGPT can solve math problems, answer questions, make inferences or tell stories. In addition, ChatGPT can summarize large chunks of content”
• “ChatGPT does not check if statements are accurate - so always check the references it gives.”

Another of the AI’s OpenAI, “has digital controls and human trainers to try to keep the output as useful and business-appropriate as possible.”

Of course there are pitfalls with using Artificial Intelligence, and it is very important to be aware of them.  

One of the points the speaker reiterated was that “ If you wouldn’t put it into Facebook don’t put it into free AI”. Security and privacy are issues that users need to be aware of. 

Another is what is known as hallucinations. This is the AI term for inaccuracies. AI can and will make up answers if it doesn’t have the facts or information to hand. We were also warned about bias in some AI platforms - and to always check the references which come with copy requests.

There was much more and those from the Hub found it a valuable learning experience. We will certainly be investigating more and hope to be able to find a Speaker for the Hub’s Speaker program.

The illustration used for this news item was generated by ChatGPT