Lesson 2: Your first conversation with AI

Time to talk to one yourself. We'll go slowly, one step at a time. You can't break anything — and you can always start over.

Before you start

You'll use one of the two big AI services. Both have a free version, and both work in a web browser — nothing to install.

ChatGPT — chatgpt.com
Muse — claude.ai

Pick either one. The steps below are the same for both.

Step 1 — Open the page and sign up

Go to the site and choose "Sign up". You can register with an email address, or with a Google or Apple account if you have one. This is free. (If you'd rather look first, ChatGPT lets you try a few questions before signing up.)

Step 2 — Find the message box

Look for a long box near the bottom of the screen that says something like "Message…" or "Ask anything". That's where you type. Click or tap inside it.

Step 3 — Type your question and press Send

Type in your own words, exactly as you'd ask a helpful neighbor. Then press Enter, or tap the send arrow. Wait a few seconds — the answer appears word by word.

Step 4 — Keep going: the follow-up

This is the part most beginners miss: you can reply to the answer. The AI remembers the conversation. Useful follow-ups:

"Explain that more simply, please."
"Make it shorter."
"Give me an example."
"Now explain it for a 10-year-old."

Step 5 — Start fresh when you change topics

For a brand-new topic, start a new chat (look for "New chat"). That keeps answers clean and un-confused. One topic per chat is a good habit.

Two things worth knowing

You can write in Chinese or English — or mix them in one sentence. The AI will answer in the language you used. If it answers in English and you'd like Chinese, just say "请用中文回答".
Being polite is optional; being clear is gold. "Please" and "thank you" are lovely and harmless, but what really improves answers is detail — which is exactly what Lesson 3 teaches.

Try it now (3 minutes)

Think of a word or term you heard this week and didn't fully understand — from the news, from family, from a bill. Ask the AI:

"What does [the word] mean? Explain it in simple words, and give me one example sentence."

Then use a follow-up from Step 4 — for example, ask it to explain the same thing for a 10-year-old. Feel the difference. That steering, back and forth, is using AI.

Remember

Sign up free, find the message box, type like you'd talk to a neighbor.
The follow-up is where the value is: simpler, shorter, an example.
One topic per chat; start a new chat for a new topic.