A Comprehensive Guide to Generative AI Tools, Prompts, and Learning Resources

Introduction

When ChatGPT sparked the rapid development of large language models, many people felt both amazement and anxiety about being replaced; the article argues that tools will not replace humans, only those who master the tools will thrive.

What Is AI

AIGC

Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC) refers to content created by generative AI techniques such as GANs and large pretrained models, which learn from existing data and generate new text, images, audio, etc., with a certain degree of generalization.

The core idea is to use AI algorithms to produce creative, high‑quality content based on input conditions like keywords, descriptions, or samples.

AGI

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) denotes a system capable of performing complex tasks and fully mimicking human intelligence, able to self‑learn, self‑improve, and solve any problem without human intervention.

What AI Can Do

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Why Ordinary People Should Understand AI

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Coding Assistants

GitHub Copilot

Documentation: https://docs.github.com/en/copilot

First‑generation coding assistant, currently the best‑experienced Copilot.

Example of good code:

Log.wtf("yechaoa", "applicationInfo = " + packageInfo.applicationInfo)

Example of bad code:

Log.wtf("yechaoa", "packageName = " + packageInfo.packageName)

GitHub Copilot Chat

Beta testing, requires joining a waitlist.

Pricing

Personal plan: 1‑month trial, then subscription – $10/month or $100/year.

Enterprise plan: license management, policy management, privacy protection, corporate proxy – $19 per user per month.

CodeGeeX

Website: https://codegeex.cn/

CodeGeeX is a large‑model‑based all‑purpose intelligent programming assistant offering code generation, completion, automatic comments, translation, and Q&A, supporting many languages and IDEs.

Features

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IDE Integration

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Free , login required, no VPN needed. Developed by Tsinghua University, performance comparable to GitHub Copilot, runs as an IDEA plugin.

Cursor

Website: https://cursor.sh/

Chat

(image omitted) The top‑right menu opens chat.

Code

Press command+k to trigger code suggestions; the free tier lacks direct code completion, while Copilot requires a paid Pro plan.

Price

(image omitted) Free tier offers basic features with an integrated IDE, 50 GPT‑4.0 calls and 200 GPT‑3.5 calls per month.

Other Coding Assistants

codeium: https://codeium.com/

通义灵码: https://tongyi.aliyun.com/lingma

Text Generation

ChatGPT

Website: https://chat.openai.com/auth/login

ChatGPT is a chatbot built on large transformer models, fine‑tuned for coherent, context‑aware dialogue and used for customer service, content creation, and more.

Prompt Engineering

Official guide: https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/prompt-engineering (image omitted)

Prompt Templates

Various question patterns are provided for knowledge acquisition, verification, expansion, and task execution, helping users formulate effective prompts.

GPT‑4.0 Level Test

Examples of GPT‑3.5 vs. GPT‑4.0 responses to logic and language puzzles.

GPT‑4.5 Model Verification

Question about the exact model name in the API.

Self‑Hosted Platforms

Three‑step setup: https://github.com/ChatGPTNextWeb/ChatGPT-Next-Web, deployment on Vercel, API key and quota management via OpenAI.

Other Chat Models

Bing

Free with Microsoft account, requires VPN; based on OpenAI, supports GPT‑4.0 and DALL‑E‑3.

Bard

Google's large language model, free with Google account, no VPN needed; can answer questions and describe images.

Poe

Platform by Quora offering multiple models (OpenAI, Anthropic); free with Google account, VPN required for some models.

Copilot Hub

AI toolbox for learners, free with Google account, no VPN; supports GPT‑4.0 with 200 queries per month.

ChatGot

Aggregates many AI assistants; free with Google account, no VPN.

Devv

AI search engine for developers; free, no login, no VPN.

Shared ChatGPT

Public shared instances, free, no login, no VPN.

Coze

Application platform for building AI chatbots; free with Google account, no VPN, based on GPT‑4.0.

Gnomic

Free GPT‑4.0 access without limits, requires account login, no VPN.

Other Chinese Models

通义千问: https://tongyi.aliyun.com/qianwen/

文心一言: https://yiyan.baidu.com/

Video Tools

Pika

Website: https://pika.art/waitlist – emerging text‑to‑video, image‑to‑video, video‑to‑video tools (waiting list).

AI Tool Collections

Aggregators: https://ai-bot.cn/, https://www.ainavpro.com/, https://aibang.run/ (images omitted).

AI Learning Resources

Road to AGI wiki: https://waytoagi.feishu.cn/wiki/QPe5w5g7UisbEkkow8XcDmOpn8e – comprehensive collection of papers, books, tutorials, and news.

Conclusion

For coding assistance, GitHub Copilot is the top recommendation; for a free alternative, use CodeGeeX.

For Q&A, ChatGPT leads; if you lack a VPN or want a free option, consider Poe, Copilot Hub, ChatGot, Gnomic, or shared accounts. Domestic alternatives such as 通义千问 and 文心一言 are also solid free substitutes.