Can ChatGPT Summarize Articles | Sherlock-Level IQ in 3 Easy Steps

From the Author: Kovi has been an advocate of AI for 3+ years and has been using different tools to summarize content. It helps him acquire knowledge in different fields and allows him to progress his subject expertise at a rapid pace.

Have you ever wished you could have the ability to read faster? Instantly grasping the gist of an article without even reading the whole thing?

Or how about taking in information like Sherlock Holmes, browsing through books, news columns, and reports at an amazing rate of speed?

Well… what if I told you that you can with AI, but more specifically ChatGPT?

Achieving “Sherlock Holmes level” in regards to knowledge acquisition, can be possible with ChatGPT.

Knowledge recall might be a different part to the equation, but being able to take in and absorb data in a quick and efficient way, is certainly doable.

In this article we’re going to answer the question “can ChatGPT summarize articles?” and dig deep to find out:

Let’s dive in!

Picture this…

You stumble across an intriguing article and you start glancing it over…

only reading the parts that catch your attention.

You close the article thinking you’ve just absorbed the necessary parts…

Only to find out that you didn’t quite capture all the details and/or the main concept of the article.

This is common.

How you scan, internalize and summarize an article can lead to the issues pointed above; not getting the right information, and not getting the conceptual meaning behind it.

Well, instead of doing it manually (ie. you skimming it), you could hand it over to ChatGPT and voilà, you get a condensed version capturing all the critical insights.

Game-changer, isn’t it?

What Is An Article Summarizer | Can ChatGPT Summarize Articles

Before we can answer the question “can ChatGPT summarize articles”, we need to understand what an article summarizer is.

There are two squads in the summarization world: manual and automatic.

I’m sure you’re familiar with the manual hustle, where you skim through text trying to pinpoint the main points. But who has the time that?

Enter the automatic article summarizers or AI summarizers.

They work like magic, using smart algorithms to crunch down articles, research papers, and books while you grab a coffee.

Think about other use cases and possibilities!

Imagine you’re a student needing a quick lowdown on a study article?

Or how about a business professional needing the “coles notes” version of an important business report?

Summarization tools has your back.

Summarize with ChatGPT | Can ChatGPT Summarize Articles

Let’s get familiar with ChatGPT – OpenAI’s language model that transforms the way we interact with information online.

Using AI to summarize articles isn’t just about saving time. It’s about staying informed and up to date in today’s rapid-fire information age.

Think about the possibilities – preparing for meetings, enhancing your learning, or just keeping up with your favorite topics.

ChatGPT doesn’t just parrot back on used content and sentences; it offers a clear, concise summary that’s easy to digest.

But how?

By understanding context, identifying key points, and presenting them in a reader-friendly format (mainly due to it’s NLP – but might be too technical for this article).

With the right prompt, the AI could cover everything from news articles to scientific research, making this tool as versatile as it is powerful.

But, why should you care?

For starters, integrating AI like ChatGPT into your routine is like having a personal assistant constantly on hand to clear the clutter of content overload.

And let’s not overlook those moments when you’re racing against the clock.

ChatGPT has the smarts to ensure that you’re always the one in the know, without having to plow through every word yourself.

How does ChatGPT or AI Summarize Articles?

Curious how AI’s like ChatGPT can summarize full-blown articles in a breeze?

Understanding how Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) may be too technical for this post, but instead, I’ll try to capture what it does.

Let’s break it down.

The Concept:

• Understanding the text
  • At its core, ChatGPT uses deep learning and neural networks to chew through text and comprehend it like you or I, or any human would
  • It analyzes the structure, vocabulary, and concepts to get what the article is all about
• Identifying key points
  • ChatGPT spots the key points of an article by understanding the hierarchy of ideas, separating fluff from facts
  • Think of a conveyor belt of text – removing and keeping information it deems necessary for the summary

The Process:

1. Input: Attach the article into ChatGPT chat box
2. Analysis: It goes through the text and uses its algorithmic magic to tease out the essence
3. Output: Ta-da! It spits out a summary, in a concise and readable format

Be assured, this isn’t a cut and paste process.

ChatGPT actually rewrites the summary in its own words, maintaining the original meaning but with fewer words.

Now, you might ask, “How good is it, really?”

Well, there aren’t hard and fast stats to wave at you, but users often nod in approval at its accuracy and efficiency.

Writing an Effective Summary Prompt

You might not know this, but the quality of the summary all depends on the prompt you provide ChatGPT.

If the summary is longer than you anticipated, or it didn’t quite get the highlights you were looking for, it’s most likely due to the prompts.

Having a good summary prompt will allow you to customize the type of summary you’re looking for.

Imagine a good prompt as a road map; without it, your journey (i.e., summary) could turn into a wild goose chase.

Without clarity and direction, you might end up with a summary that’s as long as the original text!

So, how do you craft this magic command? Here’s a quick cheat sheet.

ChatGPT Effective Summary Cheat Sheet

1. Keep it short and sweet
   • “Can you summarize this for me?” – this is OK, but not great
   • It’s more like asking for a favor from a friend than issuing a command
   • Issue a command instead of asking
2. Be clear about length:
   • “Give me the gist in under 100 words,” – this is better because you’re restricting ChatGPT to your guidelines
3. Set the tone right
   • Fancy an academic summary or a casual one? Specify the tone, “Summarize this in a professional tone”
4. Throw in the keywords
   • Use keywords you know to help navigate ChatGPT to what you want the summary to include
   • If the article is about climate change, adding “focusing on renewable energy” hones in on what matters to you
5. Scope it out
   • It doesn’t always have to be a summary, sometimes a summary might be too much for what you’re wanting
   • Other prompts you can use are: “get the main points,” “what are the key takeaways,” or “provide me 3 critical arguments,” depending on your purpose

Here’s a side-by-side for your amusement:

❌ Bad Prompt	✅ Good Prompt
“Read this and tell me what it’s about.”	“Summarize the article in 150 words focusing on economic impacts.”
“What’s the point of this text?”	“Please give me a professional summary of the key arguments presented.”

Keep your instructions crisp, and you’ll be provided with a summary that saves time and brainpower.

No fluff, no frills, just the bare bones of information served on a silver platter.

What can be summarized using ChatGPT?

With ChatGPT, you’ve got your own personal summarizer for a variety of texts.

Here’s a list of formats ChatGPT can summarize:

• News Articles
• Blog Posts
• Research Papers
• Business Reports
• Book Reviews
• Product Descriptions
• Movie Scripts
• Song Lyrics
• Poems
• Jokes

And now, the other side of the coin. Some things just can’t be jammed into a summary by our friend ChatGPT:

• Images
• Videos
• Audio Files
• Websites

Remember, while ChatGPT is incredibly versatile, it still works within the limits of text and can’t interpret content it’s not designed to process (ie. video, audio, etc.).

This isn’t to say AI in general can’t do it. There are tools such as SummarizeBot that have this capability, but ChatGPT specifically can’t.

3 Step Process on How to Summarize any Article with ChatGPT

Now it’s time to get your feet wet and explore how you can use ChatGPT to come out on top with a solid summary.

• Step 1: ChatGPT Account
  • Go to the official webpage of ChatGPT at chat.openai.com
  • If you don’t already have one, you’ll need to create an account; it’s quick and won’t cost you a penny (you won’t need ChatGPT Plus for this)
• Step 2: Upload and Analyze Article into ChatGPT
  • Once you’ve logged in, it’s time to reel in the text you wish to summarize
  • Grab the body of the article, and paste it straight into ChatGPT’s welcoming message box
  • Now prompt ChatGPT to work its magic and give you a distilled version of the article
  • Sample: “summarize the article in 150-words, highlighting the main points in bullet-form format”
• Step 3: Review and Edit Summary
  • ChatGPT will now churn out a summary
  • Review your summary and ensure it’s accurate and acceptable to your standards

Don’t forget, the goal of summarization is to stay afloat with information that’s concise yet compelling, where every word pulls its weight.

Tips For Using ChatGPT To Generate Summaries

Now that you got your feet wet, have you tried summarizing a lengthy article and ended up with a text that’s still too long?

Or ChatGPT didn’t even summarize it because of the length?

Wells, here’s your nifty guide to master the art of brevity with ChatGPT.

Trust me, it’s a game-changer!

1. Use Smaller Segments

First things first, cut that behemoth of a text into manageable pieces.

Small chunks are king! They make it easier for ChatGPT to digest and serve you the juicy bits without getting indigestion.

Plus, you’ll sidestep those annoying message limits.

2. Play With Different Tones, Lengths, and Points of Views

Now, let’s get playful!

If you’re not loving the output? Switch it up with different questions, instructions, tones and even points of view.

Keep switching it up until you find a prompt and style you vibe with.

3. Verify Accuracy

Remember, even your AI buddy can make mistakes.

Grab your detective hat and compare notes with the original content.

It’s the only way to ensure no golden nugget of info has slipped through the cracks.

4. Keep Sensitive Info Out

Here’s a no-brainer, but it bears repeating.

Stumbling upon sensitive info? Keep ChatGPT out of it.

If Google keeps a history of your search results, you’d better believe ChatGPT keeps a history of what you input.

The last thing we want is TMI in the AI world.

5. Citations Matter

When you hit the bullseye with that perfect summary, don’t forget to tip your hat to the source – proper citation matter!

You could even prompt ChatGPT to “include citations of each bullet point when necessary“.

You should now have the basic understanding on how to effectively use those summary prompts.

How to Summarize an Article with Bing Chat / Copilot

Isn’t Copilot (formerly Bing Chat) just like ChatGPT? Not quite.

While both are AI-driven and the fact that Copilot uses ChatGPT, they’re slightly different tools.

This is mainly due to Copilot having access to the internet and it’s search engine, providing a seamless experience and more accurate information.

So, how do you actually get Copilot to chop down an article to bite-size information?

Let’s walk through it together.

Get Set with Copilot / Bing Chat:

• Step 1
  • Fire up your Microsoft Edge browser – yes, that’s your ticket to the Copilot experience
  • Then head over to the top-right corner of the sidebar. See that ‘Copilot’ button? That’s your gateway
• Step 2
  • Got the article url that’s as long as a summer day? Grab it and paste it into the chatbox right after typing TL;DR. That’s your magic command
• Step 3
  • Hit enter. Lean back for a sec. Copilot’s gears are turning to serve up the gist of that article
• Step 4
  • Bingo! A neat summary appears.
  • But again, don’t take it as gospel. Give it a once-over, and verify. Tweak if needed.

Integration and Accessibility | Can ChatGPT Summarize Articles

Since ChatGPT’s main functionality revolves around using their chatbot, majority of it’s magic has to happen within their website – this can be limiting.

Luckily for us, when ChatGPT started gaining some traction with the introduction of 3 and 3.5, developers started finding ways to use and connect with the AI technology and use it outside of the confines of their website.

Here are some tools to help you seamlessly integrate ChatGPT into your daily web browsing.

Using ChatGPT Plugins for Browsers and Email

Personally I didn’t like having to copy and paste URL’s or the text I needed to summarize, into ChatGPT. This process seemed clunky.

Now, imagine clicking a button on your browser’s toolbar and getting a concise summary of a long article, right there, right then.

Well, that’s now a possibility. In fact the Chrome Store has a lot of plugins that are designed for just that – to summarize right there, right then.

I personally use the “ChatGPT >> Summarize & Chat” Chrome Extension. It has one highest reviews (4.8⭐ / 1.2K Ratings) for a ChatGPT summarizer – pretty good if you ask me.

• How it works:
  1. Install the ChatGPT summarization plugin from your browser’s extension store
  2. Navigate to an article or an email thread you want to summarize
  3. Click the ChatGPT icon
  4. Voila! A summary appears, saving your time and sanity.

Easy peasy…

Plus, if you’re a developer or a power user, you could even customize or build upon these plugins, thanks to most being open-source.

Using ChatGPT Plugins To Summarize YouTube Videos

This is one use case where having a ChatGPT Summary Chrome Extension is incredibly beneficial.

As I mentioned before, ChatGPT is unable to directly view or analyze videos – more specifically YouTube videos.

When I asked ChatGPT to summarize Noah Kagan’s “Day In The Life of a $270 Million Entrepreneur” video, here’s it’s response:

The video titled “Day In The Life Of A $270 Million Entrepreneur” on YouTube is likely a documentary-style presentation that offers a look into the daily routine of a highly successful entrepreneur. It probably includes insights into their business strategies, lifestyle, work ethic, and personal habits that contribute to their success. Such content is typically designed to be motivational and educational, providing viewers with a glimpse into the mindset and day-to-day activities of a successful businessperson.

For a complete and detailed overview, you can watch the video here.

ChatGPT’s response when asking to summarize a YouTube video

If you read the whole text, you can see that ChatGPT didn’t actually summarize the content, but gave generalizations.

Additionally, I asked ChatGPT a more direct prompt: analyze the following link and give me the key insights in 5 bullet points.

Here’s ChatGPT’s response:

Unfortunately, I’m unable to directly view or analyze the content of YouTube videos, as my current capabilities do not support video or audio analysis.

ChatGPT’s response when I gave direct instructions to analyze a YouTube video

As you can see, it doesn’t do it *womp*womp*

Instead let’s use the Chrome extension mentioned above.

Using the same video, here’s the output:

Certainly! Here’s a concise summary of the text with relevant emojis for each point:

1. 🌄 Early Wake-Up Routine: Wakes up at 2:59 a.m., one minute earlier than David Goggins.
2. 🍵 Himalayan Yak Tea Ritual: Begins the day with Himalayan Yak tea in an organic mug.
3. 📚 Meditation with Reading: Combines meditation and reading for a mindful start.
4. 💭 Manifestation Practice: Envisions success and personal growth.
5. 🏋️‍♂️ Workout in a Suit: Exercises in a suit, embodying the ‘dress for success’ mantra.
6. 🚗 Luxury Car Show-off: Drives a blue metallic Ferrari to work.
7. 🛌 Real Morning Routine: Actually wakes up around 8:00 a.m., enjoys making his bed for a sense of accomplishment.
8. 🦷 Morning Hygiene & Health: Brushes teeth, takes meds, and checks sleep quality with an Oura Ring.
9. ☕ Golden Coffee & Hydration: Drinks golden coffee and electrolytes for hydration.
10. 📅 Schedule Review: Checks daily schedule, including meetings and personal activities.
11. ✍️ Journaling & Reading: Writes in a journal and reads ‘The Big Five for Life’.
12. 📈 Business Check-In: Reviews company stats and engages in work-related communications.
13. 👔 Leadership Meetings: Discusses budget, time management, and alignment with the team.
14. 🥗 Dietary Discipline: Practices self-discipline in eating habits.
15. 👥 All-Hands Meeting: Leads a company-wide meeting to align on goals and updates.
16. 📝 Afternoon Meetings: Engages in various meetings with team leaders.
17. ✈️ Flying Hobby: Goes flying after work to face fears and gain pilot experience.
18. 🚴 Cycling with Friends: Enjoys a bike ride with a friend from the cycling community.
19. 🍲 Dinner Routine: Eats a pre-prepared dinner and relaxes with non-alcoholic beer.
20. 📺 Evening Leisure: Watches YouTube, checks news, and unwinds.
21. 🛀 Nighttime Wind-Down: Takes a bath, prepares for the next day, and does push-ups.
22. 📖 Bedtime Reading: Ends the day with light reading and gratitude.

This summary highlights the contrast between an exaggerated and a more realistic daily routine of a successful individual, emphasizing the importance of self-care, discipline, and work-life balance.

Summary of Noah Kagen’s “Day in the life of a $270 Million Entrepreneur, using ChatGPT >> Summarize & Chat

This is one of the main reasons why I use a different ChatGPT tool to summarize YouTube videos (in this case a ChatGPT Chrome Extension)

Completely different results, and it even has emoji’s 😜

Practical Applications and Benefits | Can ChatGPT Summarize Articles

If you’re a student or researcher, learning how to leverage AI/ChatGPT (outside of the general novelty prompts) should be an ancillary priority for you.

Not only can it greatly enhance your productivity, but grasping key concepts and different perspectives allows you a broader view of the subject, or give you insights you haven’t even thought of.

By providing succinct versions of long articles or research papers, you’re able to grasp key points, main ideas, and important details swiftly – without any biases!

Aiding Research with Concise Reports

In regards to research papers (ie. Pubmed Papers), an abstract is a concise summary of a research paper, providing an overview of the main purpose, hypotheses, methods, results, and implications.

When you’re tasked with reviewing multiple studies, summarizing these abstracts or instructions can be crucial for quick yet thorough understanding.

Depending on the type of research, it can get quite lengthy and technical, especially if it’s a health-related study.

Instead of trying to decipher the cryptic abstract, let’s summarize and get to the juice of the content, without the fluff.

How to Use ChatGPT to Summarize an Abstract or Instructions for a Research Paper

Got an abstract or research instructions? Let’s break it down, Sherlock-style:

• Identify the main purpose: What’s the big question or problem here?
• Pinpoint the methods: How did those brainy researchers tackle the issue?
• Look for results: What did they discover – any Eureka moments?
• Consider the implications: Why does this matter to the world or your field?
• Keep an eye out for keywords: What are the buzzwords that capture the research’s essence?

Here’s how you can get ChatGPT to summarize a research paper:

1. Initiate the Summary Mission
   • Grab the abstract or instructions text and paste it into ChatGPT’s message box
2. Command Operation Summarize
   • Ask ChatGPT, “Summarize this text, please.”
3. Assess the Output
   • ChatGPT will churn out a neat, compact summary
   • Have a read, tweak if you must, to ensure it hits home
4. Finalize
   • Save that shiny summary or pass it on

Pro Tip: You can jot down a few questions or bullet points to guide ChatGPT towards what’s most important to you.

Tips for summarizing a research paper:

• Purpose and Question: Identify the study’s primary aim and research question.
• Methods and Results: Outline the methodology and summarize the findings.
• Implications: Consider the study’s broader impact or applications.
• Language: Keep it clear and concise, avoiding overly technical terms.
• Style and Keywords: Adhere to formatting guidelines, including relevant keywords that capture the essence of the study.

Streamlining Daily Information Intake

How ChatGPT Helps: Following a structured approach with ChatGPT allows you to streamline your daily intake of information from various sources:

1. Copy-Paste: Begin by copying the abstract or paper’s instructions.
2. Summarization Request: Paste it into ChatGPT and type a command like “Summarize this abstract for me.”
3. Review: Evaluate the generated summary for completeness and edit as needed.
4. Utilization: Save for later reference or share with peers.

Again, while ChatGPT is a powerful tool, always conduct your own final review to ensure the summary’s accuracy and completeness.

This method is not just a timesaver but also ensures you’re not missing out on the finer details crucial for your research or studies.

Limitations and Challenges | Can ChatGPT Summarize Articles

If you’re considering on using ChatGPT to summarize content (whether it’s articles or videos), you should have an understanding of what it can do and what it can’t.

Understanding ChatGPT’s Summarization Boundaries

Let’s quickly talk about tokens and token limit.

When using ChatGPT, there are tokens that get used up.

Think of tokens as a unit of text – 1 word can be a token or, parts of a word can be a token.

Tokens help measure the length of text (input and output), they help determine the billing costs, and lastly ensures that your conversation fits within the model’s limitations.

Think of trying to pour a gallon of water (big block of text) into a pint glass (ChatGPT’s token limit).

Here’s a quick rundown of other ChatGPT limitations:

• Token Limitation: A token can be a word or part of a word, and GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 can only handle about 4,096 tokens at once
• Knowledge Cutoff: Depending on which ChatGPT model you’re using, the data may be outdated using data in 2023 (ChatGPT-4) or 2021 (ChatGPT-3.5)
• Creativity Hurdles: Sometimes, you want that human touch – a sprinkle of creativity. ChatGPT is smart, it still sounds robotic. You need to really dig into the prompts to get an output that resembles human writing.

Overcoming Information Overload and Accuracy Issues

Due to ChatGPT’s token constraints mentioned above, you can only summarize content that fit that model.

What that means is if you have content that’s over 1,500 words, ChatGPT won’t accept it – you have to break it down.

📌Editor’s Note:
The latest version of ChatGPT offers 4,096 which loosely equates to roughly 1,000 to 1,500 words or more. It can vary.

But “breaking it down” can lead to it’s own issues:

• Inaccuracy
  • Because ChatGPT is getting your text in “chunks”, it might not grasp the entirety of the content leading to inaccuracies in the summary
• Biases and Misleading Info
  • Depending on what information you’re feeding ChatGPT, it can sometimes be biased

So while you’re on your quest for quick knowledge, remember these side notes on ChatGPT.

Don’t get frustrated at the fact it can’t do all your text at once, instead find workarounds and mitigate those issues.

📌Editor’s Note:
If you’re familiar with ChatGPT-4 Turbo, more specifically gpt-4–1106-preview, it has a token limit of 128,000. Unfortunately it’s only available to developers or users that know how to use the OpenAI API.

FAQ’s | Can ChatGPT Summarize Articles

Final Thoughts | Can ChatGPT Summarize Articles

For online marketers and SEO professionals specifically, utilizing ChatGPT for summarizing articles is not just a convenience, it’s a game-changer.

Time is a precious commodity in our fast-paced digital world, and ChatGPT offers a solution to quickly distill the essence of lengthy content.

Personally there’s been times where I’ve encountered the all-too-common challenges of traditional summarization methods – the hours spent reading, the struggle to identify key points, and the risk of missing crucial information.

That’s why I asked the question “can ChatGPT summarize articles” because I knew it can sidestep these issues.

It can conceptualize the main ideas and provides concise, accurate summaries that capture the essence of the article, saving invaluable time and effort.

It’s also important to note that it isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about enhancing our ability to stay informed and make well-informed decisions quickly.

By leveraging ChatGPT to summarize articles, we can keep pace with the ever-evolving landscape of online marketing and SEO, ensuring that we’re always a step ahead.

Before You Go…

Learning how you can use ChatGPT to summarize articles is a step forward on how we can use AI, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

I’ve created a trove of articles to enhance your skills and understanding of AI content writers, check it out:

1. How to do AI Keyword Research: Dive into the future of SEO and discover how AI can revolutionize your keyword research strategy. This guide is a must-read for anyone looking to stay ahead in the SEO game
2. How to Make AI Writing Undetectable: Learn the art of blending AI writing seamlessly into your content. This article provides invaluable tips for maintaining authenticity while leveraging AI’s efficiency
3. AI Writing Tool Buying Guide: Unsure which AI writing tool fits your needs? Our comprehensive buying guide will help you make an informed decision, ensuring you choose the tool that best aligns with your marketing goals

Each of these articles offers practical, actionable advice to further empower your online marketing journey.

Happy reading!