Image created by ChatGPT: click image to enlarge, please.
Are you ready to supercharge your productivity, creativity, and problem-solving skills? Meet ChatGPT—the AI tool that’s changing how we work, learn, and innovate. Best of all, you can access it for free right from your Windows desktop!
In this tutorial series, I’ll guide you step-by-step through everything you need to know about ChatGPT: how to set it up, ask the right questions, and leverage its potential for blogging, learning, and beyond. Whether you’re a curious beginner or a tech-savvy pro, there’s something here for everyone.
Let’s dive in and discover how AI can make your life easier, more efficient, and a lot more fun!
Introduction
In 2014, I published an article called “Internet the Savant Child,” followed in 2024 by “Internet the Savant Child (PART 2): Will AI Make the Internet and People More Intelligent?” Make sure to read those articles first to better understand the evolution of this reflection.
Well, let’s start with this, as it is probably what most people think: they believe the Internet is just a tool. But it isn’t really…
For sure, it’s a tool that everybody uses now, but most people don’t think about what’s behind it and what the right use of it should be. It’s certainly not designed primarily to give users access to any information they want. Instead, it’s built to collect information about the private life of its users — to make profit from them by gathering data from every online action they perform.
With the arrival of AI, this process becomes even more perfected. Now, predictions can be made based on the behavior patterns of users. The Internet has become mostly commercial, and the user has turned into the real treasure behind the so-called “free” services.
This is also true for social media, no matter which platform we are talking about — data is the new goldmine for providers!
Read also:
- 🛡️ “Taking Back Control: Toward a Conscious and Responsible Digital Hygiene”
- 🔻 “Willing Prisoners of the Digital World: Why Do We Stay Despite the Dangers?”
- The Loss of Our Digital Identity: Has AI Crossed the Line?
- Social Media, quo vadis!?
1️⃣ The Internet: From Information Highway to Data Marketplace
When it started, the Internet was often described as an “information highway” — a space where knowledge could flow freely and empower individuals through access to education, culture, and innovation.
However, this original vision slowly transformed into something else. The economic model of the Internet shifted from information sharing to data exploitation. Every website, app, and social media platform now runs on algorithms that analyze user behavior in real time — what you search for, what you click on, how long you stay, and even what you hesitate to do.
The result? A mirror world where your actions online define what you will see next. Your digital shadow becomes a product, and your attention becomes the most valuable currency.
2️⃣ #SocialMedia: The Illusion of Connection
Social media promised to connect people, break barriers, and create communities. And to some extent, it did. But the reality behind the interface is more complex.
Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter) don’t sell products — they sell you, or more precisely, your data and attention. Every like, comment, and share contributes to a constantly updated profile of your personality, preferences, and emotional triggers.
AI systems now analyze all this information to predict your next move, to keep you engaged, and to subtly guide your decisions — what to buy, what to read, and even what to believe.
This raises an essential question for today’s digital citizens: Are we really using social media — or is social media using us?
3️⃣ #AI: The Game Changer
AI didn’t create this system, but it turbocharged it.
Where older systems simply collected data, AI systems interpret it. They can understand context, infer emotions, and even detect potential future behaviors. This means that digital surveillance has become predictive — not only watching what you do, but also anticipating what you might do next.
AI-driven personalization can be useful — it saves time and offers relevant suggestions — but it also locks us inside filter bubbles, shaping our worldview without us noticing. The Internet, once open and democratic, risks becoming an AI-curated reality tailored to our preferences, fears, and biases.
4️⃣ #ReverseTHINKing: A Wake-Up Call
To truly understand what’s happening, we must learn to think in reverse — to question not only what we see online but also why we see it.
Every post, ad, or recommendation is there for a reason. Someone — or rather, something — decided it should appear in your feed.
#ReverseTHINKing means becoming aware of this invisible system of influence and reclaiming our digital independence.
It’s about transforming from a passive consumer into an active, conscious user — one who understands that data is power, and that power must be handled responsibly.
5️⃣ Toward a Conscious Digital Society
If we want a future where the Internet and AI serve humanity rather than control it, we must educate ourselves and others about how these systems function.
Transparency, ethics, and civic responsibility must guide our digital behavior.
The Internet is not “just a tool.” It’s an ecosystem — and we are part of it.
The question is: Do we want to be the fuel that feeds it — or the minds that guide it?
🔚 Conclusion: Rethinking Our Digital Future
The Internet and social media were once symbols of freedom, creativity, and connection. But in today’s AI-driven world, they have become powerful systems of influence and control — built on the invisible currency of data.
Understanding this transformation is the first step toward reclaiming our autonomy. Each of us must learn to see beyond the surface — to question what we read, what we share, and what we allow to guide our thinking.
AI will continue to evolve, and with it, the complexity of digital life. The only true defense is education — the kind that cultivates Critical-Thinking, Deep-Thinking, and Proactive-Thinking. These are not just skills; they are the new form of digital self-defense.
If we manage to see the Internet not as a playground for profit but as a shared space of learning, cooperation, and responsibility, we can still shape it into something better — a place where humans guide AI, not the other way around.
The future of the Internet is not written by machines.
It’s written by how consciously we choose to use them.
The world today demands lucid minds, capable of connecting ideas, thinking beyond slogans, and rebuilding social bonds. #ReverseTHINKing is not a utopia—it is a concrete response to a real crisis. It is not a nostalgic step back, but an active, reflective approach. It is about rebuilding education, citizenship, and social cohesion around sustainable values—to prepare future generations to think differently and shape a better future.
#ReverseTHINKing then becomes essential for regaining control over our attention, our choices, and our digital autonomy.
To understand #ReverseTHINKing further, please also read:
👉 ReverseTHINKing: A Necessity for Rethinking Our Place in a Changing Society?
👉 More to explore: https://gustmees.wordpress.com/?s=liberalism and https://gustmees.wordpress.com/?s=lib%C3%A9ralisme
🧠 One last little call:
What if we reactivated the filter between our two ears—also known as the brain—to get our grey cells moving again? 😉
Related links, tutorials:
https://gustmees.wordpress.com/2025/03/09/chatgpt-free-for-windows-desktop-users-part-73/
Check ALSO my Curation and EDU-related articles on my Blog
- https://www.scoop.it/topic/21st-century-learning-and-teaching?tag=AI
- https://www.scoop.it/topic/21st-century-innovative-technologies-and-developments?tag=AI
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Check ALSO:
ChatGPT FREE for Windows Desktop users, Part 38
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| L’auteur Gust MEES est Formateur andragogique / pédagogique TIC, membre du “Comité Conseil” de “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), appelé maintenant BEESECURE, partenaire officiel (consultant) du Ministère de l’éducation au Luxembourg du projet ”MySecureIT“, partenaire officiel du Ministère du Commerce au Luxembourg du projet ”CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness and Security Enhancement Structure).. The author Gust MEES is ICT Course Instructor, ”Member of the Advisory Board” from “Luxembourg Safer Internet” (LuSI), BEESECURE, Official Partner (Consultant) from the Ministry of Education in Luxembourg, project “MySecureIT“, Official Partner from the Ministry of Commerce in Luxembourg, project “CASES” (Cyberworld Awareness and Security Enhancement Structure). |
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EDU: Digital CitiZENship, CyberSecurity, eSkills, Modern EDU by Gust MEES 
