Using ChatGPT for summarizing and paraphrasing text

ChatGPT has become a popular writing tool for its content creation capabilities. However, it can also be used to summarize and paraphrase text, which can make understanding text faster and easier.

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What happens when ChatGPT summarizes or paraphrases text?

When AI like ChatGPT receives the command to summarize or paraphrase a block of text, it expresses the same ideas while using different words and sentence structures. The meaning is the same, but the content is put together in a new way. The AI might change words around, substitute synonyms, or entirely restructure a block of text.

Using AI to paraphrase or summarize text

Summarizing text with ChatGPT can certainly be useful, but there are drawbacks as well.

Pros of using ChatGPT for paraphrasing

• Saving time. If you’re not a scientist and are tasked with reading an incredibly scientific article that’s full of Latin names and charts that explain aspects of testing results, reading it may seem rather daunting. Having a way to paraphrase all that scientific information into a summary that’s easy to read and understand can save you a ton of time. If you’re dealing with texts that are in other languages, ChatGPT can be used to summarize and translate. If you need to create content for multiple channels, using ChatGPT to paraphrase an idea can help you spread your message without being penalized by search engines.
• Productivity. Having difficult texts summarized can help you prioritize your workload and be more productive, especially if you’re not a quick reader or are constantly getting hung up on technical material.
• Synthesize material. It can be frustrating to read something and not have it register at all. It can be doubly frustrating to read something again and again and still not understand the concepts. Having the material summarized can help you understand what you’re reading. Having understanding can help you to retain core concepts that you’ve read and effectively apply them to the rest of your work.

Cons of using ChatGPT for paraphrasing

Using AI to summarize or paraphrase an article or study is not entirely foolproof because of the accuracy issues. This program has been fed a ton of information about a huge range of topics, and when it’s asked to summarize a specific text, it may draw from its entire bank of knowledge rather than the text itself. The AI has spent a lot of time learning and can produce some compelling writing but getting it to focus may be a pain point.

Older information may fare better in terms of accurate summaries since it’s more likely to be a part of ChatGPT’s database. Brand new articles and studies may produce false information. This software is always learning, but the complexity and newness of the original data may cause it to generate equally complex summaries. This can be a large drawback if someone’s goal was to understand something overly technical or scientific. Imagine asking for help understand something in a foreign language and getting a response in an entirely new language! You’d have been better off not asking in the first place.

Entering prompts for paraphrasing and summarizing into ChatGPT

Even though this AI has an enormous bank of knowledge and information, it still must be told what to do in a very straightforward manner. You’re much more likely to get the result you’re looking for if you’re very clear in your request.

You can simply say something like “summarize this” and then include a link to an article or the text in its entirety, but you might have better luck with a more detailed ask. Instead, you might indicate that you’d like the AI to provide a 200-word professional summary. If you’re looking for a summary and a translation, make you’re you specify what language you’d like the original text to be translated into.

Once you receive your generated summary, you’ll want to check it over. ChatGPT is a powerful tool, but it isn’t foolproof. Don’t trust that whatever you get is error-free and ready to go. Rather than drawing only from the article you’ve specified, ChatGPT may look at its entire knowledge bank to create your summary, and may include information that is irrelevant or incorrect, which is unhelpful if you’re seeking to understand something. Keep in mind that brand new concepts, industry-specific words, and overly technical texts may give the AI a hard time.

Whether you’re looking to summarize or paraphrase an article, you’ll want to make sure you know how to do them on your own before relying on artificial intelligence to do it for you. Another tool that can help you with writing summaries or paraphrasing is Microsoft Editor, which can refine your writing, adjust your tone, and help you with spelling and grammar. You should be confident in your own writing and communication abilities before passing the work off to ChatGPT. While AI is growing in popularity, it’s no substitution for solid reading and writing skills.