1.1 – What is ChatGPT and How Generative AI Works Lesson

Lesson Overview

Since its launch in late 2022, ChatGPT has set growth records, quickly becoming the fastest-adopted tech product, and now has hundreds of millions of weekly users. Its broad use might suggest everyone is already getting the most out of it, but most people barely scratch the surface of its capabilities. In this lesson, you’ll gain foundational knowledge about how ChatGPT works and the technology powering it.

At its most basic, ChatGPT is an AI chatbot that understands and generates responses to human language. Developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT uses something called a large language model (LLM), trained on vast amounts of text from across the web, books, and conversations. This training allows it to produce new, useful content—everything from answering questions and brainstorming business names to writing scripts or planning tasks—by recognizing patterns and crafting new text, not by copying what it has seen.

This lesson also touches on the broader area of generative AI, including models that handle text (like ChatGPT) and those designed for images, video, or audio. With a firm grasp of this technology and how to “prompt” it, you’ll be ready to move from basic to advanced ChatGPT usage, unlocking new possibilities in work, creativity, and productivity.

Who This Is For

Whether you’re new to ChatGPT or want to build a deeper understanding, this lesson provides terminology and context for all users, including:

• Professionals looking to automate writing, research, or customer service
• Entrepreneurs and creators seeking to boost their content creation
• Anyone interested in how AI chatbots and generative technologies work
• Educators exploring AI-powered teaching resources
• Individuals aiming to save time on planning, drafting, or brainstorming tasks

Where This Fits in a Workflow

Learning what ChatGPT is and how generative AI operates is foundational before you apply it to daily workflows. For example, if you’re a small business owner, knowing how to ask the right questions in ChatGPT helps draft marketing emails, create website copy, or even brainstorm business names efficiently. If you’re in customer support, using ChatGPT enables faster, more natural email responses.

Understanding these basics now sets you up for future lessons, where you’ll practice writing effective prompts and unlocking more advanced features. This introductory knowledge ensures you don’t just use ChatGPT passively but actively integrate it into your process.

Technical & Workflow Benefits

Before tools like ChatGPT, generating new written content or conducting research meant hours of manual drafting, web searches, and editing. ChatGPT automates much of this, using training data from the entire open web and beyond to generate original responses in seconds.

For marketers, that means producing copy or remixing content with little manual effort. For researchers, it might mean turning hours of data collection into minutes of deep research. The real workflow advantage comes from prompt-based communication: like having a real assistant, clearly written instructions (prompts) result in better, faster outputs. Compared to manual writing or basic template tools, ChatGPT adapts instantly to your needs and context, raising both the speed and quality of your work.

Practice Exercise

Try this: Open ChatGPT and type in a simple, open-ended prompt—such as “Suggest three business names for a dog walking service” or “What are creative blog post ideas for healthy cooking?”

• Notice how the AI generates responses that feel new and context-aware.
• Now, tweak your prompt to be more specific, adding details about your needs or your audience.

Reflect: How does ChatGPT’s output change as you clarify your instructions? What impresses you about the responses’ freshness or relevance?

Course Context Recap

This lesson introduces you to ChatGPT’s core technology and sets up the ground rules for effective interaction. Before this, you may have only heard about or briefly used ChatGPT. Up next, you’ll look at the different ChatGPT plans and features, so you can make the most of whatever version you have. Continue through the course to deepen your prompting skills and use ChatGPT like a pro in all your projects.