Welcome to Ground Zero — and to its first module, What AI is.
Half the people in my tattoo chair have heard the buzz about AI and never typed a single question into one. Sharp adults — running businesses, raising kids, brilliant at the actual job they do — not "bad with tech." They just never had anyone show them the first step without making them feel thick. If that's you, you're in exactly the right place.
Maybe you've caught it on the news. Maybe you've seen that grey AI-written summary at the top of Google — that's called an AI Overview, and yes, a machine wrote it. Maybe your mates won't shut up about ChatGPT and you've still never opened it. All fine. Never heard of ChatGPT? Still the right place. There's no GCSE in computing required here — I failed every one of mine except art, so I'm the last person who'd talk down to you. If you can read this and type a question, you're qualified.
One word before we start. A prompt is just the question or instruction you type. That's it — that's the word everyone uses. You'll hear it constantly; it was never clever.
By the end (~11 minutes)
- A plain picture of what AI chat actually is — no magic, no sci-fi.
- Where you've already bumped into it without noticing.
- One real conversation — you type a prompt, you get an answer back.
Before you start
- Prerequisites: None.
- Time: Eight short pages. One where you actually try it.
- You'll need: A browser. For the try-it step I'll point you at Gertrude on this site (no signup) or a free chat app if you'd rather.
Continue when you're ready.