Desktop computers have been around since there 1960's, and Apple's first computer was released in 1974. I think people understand what computer programs are without some clumbsy or awkward metaphor. ChatGPT isn't sentient, it's a large language model (LLM) that performs better than a Markov Chain but the underlying principal isn't so far off, but it's still a computer program. One that you can anthroponorphize readily, but it's still just a computer program, albiet a modern, and quite impressive one. It's a tool like a hammer