Talking to ChatGBT

[drisconsult]

I have just ended a discussion with ChatGBT. I asked the following question to see the what the response would be. This was my question.

I have just completed a School Management Database. The problem I am having trouble with is the following:
There is a class of thirty students who have taken their Mock GCSE examinations in the UK. Each student can choose between 8 and 12 subjects.
The Report allows the teacher to scroll through the exam results for all the students in the class. As students have chosen between 8 and 12 subjects, I need to be able to calculate their average for X number of subjects. This is the problem, I do not know what the denomenator is for each student as no two sudents have completed the same number of subjects. How do I calcualte the average without knowing the denominator?

The response I got was to me complete gobledegook. It was entirely made up of a number of highly complex equations. In reality I solved this problem back in 2003 using three very simple expressions. I have to admit that it might be my phrasing that has generated the incorrect answer, but as ChatGBT stated at the end of its sample, the results may not be what you expected.

I do feel that talking to real-life experts such as yourselves who have seen and done everything there is regarding Access, can do a better job. Do you think ChatGBT has been slightly over exagerated? What are your thoughts on this matter regarding ChatGBT taking over the world?
. I am unable to capture the ChatGBT result to show you as I am using the free version.

 

[GPGeorge]

I endorse your conclusions.

 

[jdraw]

I have accessed the free chatGPT and am always able to copy the responses provided. You do have to be cautious with the current shortcomings of the various AI models. Hallucinations (made up info), bias in the underlying language model, possible bias in the programming, incomplete/partial/no fact checking..... and the criticality of the wording of your questions to become tokens meaningful to the processing.

As for your averaging, you would need to know in how many subjects was the student enrolled, then take the sum of the marks/scores in those subjects and divide by the number of subjects.

I'm sure others would like to hear more about: "The response I got was to me complete gobledegook"

See this thread re ChatGPT and Uncle Gizmo for other comments on the subject of ChatGPT.

 

[drisconsult]

I resolved this averaging issue 20 years ago with three simple expressions. Example below.

 

[jdraw]

Great.
What was the gobledegook you were complaining about in previous post?
You have posted a report, but showed no calculations--even though you asked:
"How do I calcualte the average without knowing the denominator?"

Not trying to be dissuasive, just trying to ensure your post has been answered and, hopefully, resolved.

 

[apr pillai]

I think a better approach is to ask a few leading questions on a particular topic first, before giving out the intended target question. It may or may not come up with more or less acceptable result. If the result is not fully acceptable reframe the question.

 

[drisconsult]

I think you missed the point. I have already resolved the issue. I was simply finding out how ChatGBT would resolve it, The fact that my Report has the correct answer should surely tell you something. If it is correct, I must be doing something right. Or do you want me to show you the expressions?

 

[jdraw]

?? It was your post. You asked questions. 3 members have responded. We're happy if you're happy.
If you are questioning the usefulness of chatGPT, then readers need to know:
-in simple terms what were you trying to achieve and your expectation
-then what was the dialog between you and chatGPT.

I do not understand how you were unable to copy the dialog.


For interest: I opened chatgpt and posed a question, and received a response.
The dialog is attached below.

Me:

I have seen comments that suggest users are unable to capture and copy the responses from chatgpt. Can you tell me why that might be.


ChatGPT
There could be a few reasons why someone might have difficulty capturing and copying responses from ChatGPT. Here are some possible explanations:

1. User interface limitations: Depending on the platform or interface through which someone is accessing ChatGPT, there may be restrictions on copying or exporting text. Some chat applications or websites may disable copying or limit the ability to select and copy text.
2. JavaScript limitations: ChatGPT is powered by JavaScript, and some web browsers or extensions may have limitations or restrictions on copying text generated by JavaScript-based applications. This could be due to security or privacy concerns.
3. Design choices: In some cases, the developers or designers of a chat interface may intentionally disable the ability to copy responses. This could be to prevent users from easily sharing or disseminating the model's output, or to encourage engagement and interaction within the specific platform.

It's worth noting that while copying and sharing text generated by ChatGPT is not always straightforward, it's typically possible through various methods such as using browser extensions, inspecting elements on a web page, or utilizing screen capture tools. However, it's important to respect the guidelines and policies of the platform or application you are using, and to use the model's responses responsibly and ethically.

 

[AccessBlaster]

Here is the answer chatGPT gave me for the above question:


To calculate the average without knowing the denominator (number of subjects) for each student, you can use the concept of weighted average. In this case, each student's average will be calculated based on the number of subjects they have taken.

Here's a general approach you can follow:

1. For each student, calculate their average score for each subject they have taken.
2. Multiply each subject's average score by the weight, which is the reciprocal of the number of subjects the student has taken.
3. Sum up the weighted average scores for all subjects.
4. Divide the sum by the total number of subjects taken by all students.

Let's illustrate this with an example:

Student A has taken 8 subjects and achieved the following scores: Subject 1: 85 Subject 2: 77 Subject 3: 92 ... Subject 8: 80

Student A's average score for each subject is calculated as follows: (85 + 77 + 92 + ... + 80) / 8 = Average_A

Repeat the same process for each student, and then calculate the weighted average:

Weighted_Average = (Average_A / 8) + (Average_B / 10) + (Average_C / 12) + ...

Here, 8, 10, 12 represent the number of subjects each student has taken.

By using this weighted average approach, you can calculate an average that takes into account the varying number of subjects chosen by each student

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

a better approach is to ask a few leading questions on a particular topic first,

I agree. I have found that I get the best results when I ask a question, and then seeing the answer, I refine my question, by asking another question. I have rarely had to make more than 3 or 4 iterations to arrive at a good answer.

Chat GPT has the ability to share a link to your question, if you wish to do so.

Don't forget, in the thread where you have asked chatGPT a series of questions. Chat GPT is aware of your previous questions and can use these to improve the results of later Questions.

 

[Jon]

You can also reply with things like:
- I didn't like your answer. Can you give it another go?
- Can you explain your answer to me because I think you made an error when you said XYZ.
- Your answer didn't make sense because XYZ.

 

[Gasman]

Didn't actually leave then?

Godbye

I am trying to find a way to leave this Forum. I no longer wish to be insulted by a gentleman from across the pond who when he has never heard of something, castigates the viewer. So how do I leave?

www.access-programmers.co.uk

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Here is the basic problem with ChatGPT. It works based on massive crowd-sourcing, filtered statistically. The difficulty is that if the crowd isn't skilled, the summary of their answers might not betray high skills either. We have several articles from several members who have commented on either the accuracy or the trash associated with ChatGPT. You should be able to find those articles by doing a search for ChatGPT using the search button in the menu bar, upper right of the page. That combination of letters (ChatGPT) is highly specific so is unlikely to give you totally spurious answers.

 

[561414]

I'm a human being and even I have problems understanding the intent of this. Is this some sort of puzzle?

The Report allows the teacher to scroll through the exam results for all the students in the class. As students have chosen between 8 and 12 subjects, I need to be able to calculate their average for X number of subjects

This is confusing as heck, you have the result of each student in the class, but is it per subject? or just the total? is it a number? is it a letter? do you have the number of questions? Also, WHY don't you have the number of subjects? is this designed by someone else?
Also 8 + 12 = 20, 20/2 = 10, just divide by 10?
That prompt raises more questions that need to be addressed before trying to come up with a solution. And the PDF posted raises even more questions again.

A different prompt would have been:
1. I have a class of a known number of students
2. I have a known number of right answers given in a test by each student
3. I have an unknown number of questions
4. I have an unknown number of subjects, but I know it can be 8 to 12
How do I assign a score to each student?

Not gonna post what chatGPT answered, but the responses look quite easy to understand.

So, just to conclude: make sure a human can understand the problem, do not add unnecessary information, keep it simple. AI might be good at determining the context of your prompt, but if it was a great AI, it would have made those questions before. Since it's designed to answer no matter what, as long as the user is happy, you'll get some flawed answers. You could have also asked the GPT to determine if that problem is missing information. Like: "Is this problem missing information?" and write below your initial prompt. Attached is what it replied to me, notice I asked twice.

You have to get to know your tools.