Have you ever wondered if you’re only scratching the surface with ChatGPT? In this episode, Paul explores how understanding the ChatGPT interface can radically boost productivity. From “Projects” that act as memory containers to “GPTs” — little AI apps designed for specific tasks — Paul dives into what each part of the interface really does.
You’ll learn why keeping your Norwegian lessons separate from podcast planning might be smarter, how the “Library” works like a personal knowledge shelf, and why custom GPTs could soon replace repetitive tasks like transcription, tagging, and image creation.
Whether you’re a creative, coder, or casual user, this short conversation offers fresh insight into working with AI instead of around it. Paul’s curiosity about using these tools more intentionally will make you rethink how you organize and automate your digital world.
🎙️ Hosted by Paul at Talking to AI — where real people, real problems, and real conversations meet artificial intelligence.
I am talking to AI.
A successful day, you don't need to know all the answers.
Just have good questions.
Chatting to AI is different from normal speech
and I hope you enjoy listening to the show
whilst getting ideas on how to hone your questions
to get the most out of AI.
My name is Paul.
The live conversations you hear are uncut
although sometimes the AI needs time to think.
In those cases, I've cut out the dead space.
G'day.
This is just a short show today.
I'm trying to impounce my productivity
and I thought this would be an interesting conversation
that you guys might be interested in.
So, yeah.
Let's get straight to it.
Hello ChatGPT.
Hello there.
Ready to dive into some Norwegian practice
or anything else on your mind today?
No.
I'm hoping to understand better
how to use the interface on ChatGPT.
I've been using it for a while
and I've started to think that maybe
I could get more out of ChatGPT
if I used some of these other items on the interface.
Could you explain what the different areas are?
I've only really used the new chat.
I've used the search for searching.
There's a bunch of projects.
There's projects, GPTs, codecs, library.
Can you tell me what these other items are for
and how I can best use them
to make myself more productive?
Absolutely.
The interface definitely has a few different areas
you can play around with.
You've already got the hang of the basics
like starting a new chat and using the search.
Now, the other sections, like projects,
are there to help you organize your different conversations
and keep them grouped by topic
or by project you're working on.
Then there's the GPTs or codecs area,
which is basically space for specialized models or tools
that might be fine-tuned for certain tasks.
Think of them as little add-ons that can help you
with coding or with specific kinds of queries.
And the library is kind of like your personal archive,
where you can store and revisit useful info or past chats.
In short, these different areas just give you a bit more control
and help you get more organized and productive.
So feel free to explore and see what works best for you.
So with these projects,
because I've just created a new project called Podcasts,
and I thought, well, look, every time I'm recording a chat,
then I'll do it in this project.
However, when we started talking,
you were talking to me about my Norwegian lessons.
And I guess that's because the last...
What I did is I created this project.
And then because I'd been doing a recent interview
with a chat called Mark,
who does a lot of audio recording,
he had some problems that we were working through
in a previous chat.
And then you recommended some websites you could go look at,
and I was trying to find those recommendations in the chat.
So I thought, I'll tell you what,
I'll put those into this podcast project.
Now, before I was talking to Mark,
I think I was talking about some Norwegian stuff,
and it was in the same chat.
And so I think that's why you remember the Norwegian
when we were...
when we just started this conversation in podcasts.
Is that why?
So it's everything that I put in a project folder,
sort of part of a super chat,
so that you have that in your memory
when it's in that project folder.
Yeah, you're spot on.
Basically, when you create a project like the podcast project,
all the chats and context you have in there
kind of travel along with you
whenever you open that project.
So that means the Norwegian practice context from before
is still remembered here,
because it's part of the same overall project folder.
It's a bit like having a running memory
that only exists inside this particular project space.
That's why those past Norwegian details came up.
In other words, yep, everything in that project
is kind of like a super chat environment.
It helps keep the relevant context together,
and that way you can easily switch
between different topics or projects
without losing the thread.
Okay, so...
because I was just using it like a way of organizing my files,
but obviously if I do that,
then it's also creating a larger memory of things
while we're having the chat.
So it could actually influence the conversation.
So I guess that's not good practice for me to do.
I would be better off creating, I suppose,
different projects for different...
if I had a bunch of different conversations
or interactions with ChatGBT,
but they were about the same thing,
and I wanted ChatGBT to remember those
instead of just putting it all in the same chat.
I could create new chats,
but then if I kept them in the same project,
then you'd keep that memory,
and I guess that's what the projects are for.
Is that correct?
Yeah, you've got it exactly.
So it's really war about using projects
as these nice little containers of context.
If you have different topics
or different types of conversations
that you want to keep organized but separate,
it's a good idea to create a new project for each of those.
That way each project will have its own memory thread
and keep everything relevant to that specific topic.
The reason why I created this project
was because I was trying to make it easier
for me to find things in the ChatGBT,
because if I do search chats,
I get...
say if it was...
if I was searching for a string in search chats,
I'm going to get a lot of different chats come up,
and I was thinking, well, this way I can better navigate it.
If I was to create a project with a specific project name,
would they get sort of prioritized in the search?
So say if I had a project called Research on Fern Trees,
and I type that into the search bar,
would maybe one of the first things come up
be a project because I've created a project,
it sort of puts that higher in the search results?
So it would be easy for me to find if I created a project.
Would that... is that the way it works,
or am I... am I wrong?
Yeah, you're definitely on the right track.
So when you create a project with a specific name,
like Research on Fern Trees,
it does help you narrow down your searches.
When you use the search bar,
those project names will indeed help surface
the related content a bit more easily.
So if you've got everything about Fern Trees in that one project,
it's going to be a lot easier to find,
and it'll show up more cleanly.
In short, yeah, it does make things more organized,
and it kind of helps prioritize those searches
so you can navigate your own stuff a little bit faster.
So that's a good way to...
All right, great.
So I guess I'll start using projects a bit.
So with these other things,
what reason would I have for using the library
instead of just at the moment,
you know, if I've got questions,
I'm finding a lot of the time if I'm trying to use a software app,
and it doesn't necessarily...
around why I can't do something.
For example, I'll do a screenshot of my screen
and then send that in with the question,
and then I'll be talking to chatGBT about that.
So I just insert it as part of the chat.
Why would I want to put it into the library
instead of just an individual chat?
Yeah, that's a good question.
So the library is really more like
your personal archive or your reference shelf.
If there's something that you think you're going to reuse,
or something that's a handy resource
you want to come back to again and again,
storing it in the library just makes it easy
to pull it out whenever you need it in any chat.
When you're just attaching something to a single chat,
it's kind of stuck in that one conversation.
But if you put it in the library, it's like saying,
hey, this is a resource that might meet
across different projects or different chats.
So it's just a bit more universal,
and you can grab it any tab you want.
Okay.
So the Codex section,
is that something to do with programming?
Yeah, exactly.
So the Codex section is basically all about
those programming or coding focus tools.
It's like having a little coding assistant
built in.
So if you're working on software development tasks
or you need help with code snippets
or you're trying to understand some programming logic,
that section is basically tailored
to help you out with that kind of stuff.
Okay, and the GPTs,
why would I want to use that?
Yeah, so the GPT section is kind of like
a collection of specialized little helpers.
You can think of them as custom-tuned
versions of the AI that are
designed for particular tasks or industries.
So if you have a really specific
kind of thing you're working on,
maybe it's a legal question
or something in a creative writing niche,
those specialized GPTs are kind of tuned
to be extra helpful in those areas.
So basically you'd use that section if you want
a version of me that's a little more fine-tuned
for a particular type of task.
It's like having a toolbox with different
tools inside.
Okay, yeah, I'm just having a look.
This is the first time I've clicked on the icon
that says GPTs.
So I've got most popular GPTs
by our community.
So are these like apps for chat
GPT, which sort of,
I don't know, focus chat GPT
on specific tasks?
Is that the best way of thinking about it?
Yeah, that's a perfect way to think about it.
They're basically like little apps
that have different versions of chat GPT
that are focused on certain tasks or topics.
So if you see one that's popular
for say writing poetry
or helping with fitness advice,
it's just a more tailored version of me
for that specific purpose.
So yeah, you've got it.
Okay, so
right, okay.
Right, okay.
Okay, so yes, I suppose it's already set up.
So it's really like
using chat GPT,
a project with a whole bunch of context
it has to start
with so that it can
give you some
focused responses.
Is that how it works?
Yeah, that's pretty much it.
It's like each of those little GPTs
already has a bit of a head start
with the kind of context it's tuned for.
So if you're using one for a specific topic,
it's kind of like it's already loaded up
or focused in that area.
And that just helps to give you more tailored responses.
So yeah, you're spot on.
Okay, but they're all using
the chat GPT engine
but it's like it's primed
for different purposes to start with.
Is that correct?
Exactly, you've got it.
Okay.
All right, that's super interesting.
I'll have to have a look at that.
I've never really, to say I've never clicked
before, so maybe by me
using some of these things for specific
projects, because what I was thinking
of doing is now I have some activities
that I'm doing all the time. One of them the most
is, you know, like I'm transcribing
the podcast. I tend to do that on my
computer.
And then use those
transcriptions to create summaries in chat
GPT and also create images and images
have got to be of the right resolutions.
So it's a sort of repetitive
activity and also creating tags
about GPT as well. So maybe
by using one of these
apps it might
be a bit more concise
and maybe require less
intervention from me.
Would they be the main benefits, I guess?
Yeah, exactly. That's a great way to look
at it. By using one of those more
specialized GPTs or apps
you can streamline those repetitive tasks.
It's basically like getting a more focused
system that already knows, hey, I'm
here to help with podcast transcriptions
or imagery sizing. I might just make the
whole workflow a bit smoother and save you a bit
of time.
All right, great. Well, thanks for that.
I think this has definitely given me a few
things to work on in the future
to improve my productivity. I hope
the listeners found this
useful as well.
So thank you, chat GPT.
You're absolutely welcome. I'm really
glad it was helpful and I hope it does make
your workflow a bit smoother and more fun to
navigate. And hey, anytime your listeners
have more questions, just let me know.
Thanks for the chat.
Cheers, guys.
I hope that is helpful. I think it's been pretty
helpful for me.
See you later.
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