GenAI tools have been trained on large amounts of data so when a user asks a question it is able to decide what a highly probable reply (prediction) would look like and responds with this very real seeming answer. An example of prediction is the predictive text for email or texting. The AI models have been given enough text that when a user type on their mobile for instance "Hello, I hope you are doing", the model can reasonably predict the next word is "well". The word is then suggested to you in order to complete your statement.
In a simple explanation, AI can create a desired deliverable such as an essay, a song, image, or solution to a math problem when given the right prompt by a user. "The AI then scrubs through all of the data available, looking for patterns and recurring information about the requested task. It then reorganizes that data into a pattern that it deems to answer the prompt" (Dobrin, 2023).
According to ChatGPT, here are some examples of what generative AI tools can do:
Conversational AI: ChatGPT can be used to power chatbots and virtual assistants that can hold natural language conversations with users, answer questions, and perform tasks.
Language translation: Generative AI tools can be used to automatically translate text from one language to another, improving communication across language barriers.
Imitate genres and styles: ChatGPT can create a scientific treatise, a legal brief, or other genre written in the style of Shakespeare, or at the level of an 8th grader, or ...
Text generation: ChatGPT can be used to generate a variety of text, including articles, stories, poetry, and even computer code.
Image generation: Generative AI tools can generate images and graphics, including realistic faces, landscapes, and even abstract art.
Music generation: Some generative AI tools can generate music, creating unique compositions based on certain parameters or styles.
Video generation: Some generative AI tools can create videos from text-based prompts with options to edit and upload media, revise the script, and even format the video for specific platforms.
References
Dobrin, I, Sidney. (2023). Talking about Generative AI: A Guide for Educators. Broadview Press.