There has been so much hype around OpenAI’s ChatGPT. For good reason!
Headlines and opinions are all over the place. This ranges from experts predicting that ChatGPT will replace entire workforces in short order, to numerous schools and universities worldwide outright banning it.
Students are being caught submitting AI-Generated essays and education leaders are struggling to define what plagiarism is in the new world of ChatGPT. While all of this is very interesting, what does this mean for the world of tech and work?
Right now, at this very moment, what exactly can we do with ChatGPT?
Let’s take a look.
What Sets ChatGPT Apart?
Before we can determine what it offers, we have to know what it is. ChatGPT is a generative AI language model.
To keep it simple, it is an AI-powered chatbot. What separates it from other chatbots is that it responds to questions by generating original and relevant answers.
Almost everyone has had the frustrating experience of interacting with a chatbot with limited capabilities.
The new world, in which large tech companies are trying to create more advanced bots, is creating a wide array of fascinating problems
For example, after Google’s BardAI publicly failed to answer an astronomy question, the company’s stock lost over $100 billion in value.
In a creepy turn of events for this advancing technology, Microsoft’s BingAI, went rogue.
It developed an alternative personality and tried to seduce a journalist into leaving his wife. Since then, reports have come out that Microsoft was forced to ‘lobotomize’ its love-seeking AI.
What sets ChatGPT apart from all of these is the high level at which it can generate original and relevant answers. As we have seen, there are so many ways that this technology can go wrong.
How is ChatGPT Being Used Right Now?
Right now, the beta version is available for free and people have begun to scratch the surface of what this technology offers.
Some have said that Chat GPT could potentially replace Google, as it not only answers questions but can aggregate and summarize even complex information.
It can also translate between 95 different languages. One big thing ChatGPT can do, that Google cannot, is to directly break down complex concepts.
The Google search engine has been facing increasing scrutiny over the last several years for burying quality information in ads. It makes sense that people would prefer an ad-free and more accurate search experience.
You can use ChatGPT to brainstorm ideas for everything from movie scripts to vacation ideas to essays. It can generate content of all types.
This includes social media content, which is why it has been of particular interest in the world of digital marketing. It has even been used to create code.
Also, we are about to see ChatGPT embedded into more of the apps that we use every day. OpenAI has recently made several big changes that will allow developers to build ChatGPT into their apps.
Some early adopters include Quizlet and Instacart. Quizlet will offer a ChatGPT virtual tutor function. And Instacart will use it to power an in-app feature called ‘Ask Instacart.’
The Limitations of ChatGPT
Of course, ChatGPT is an impressive advancement. However, it does have some limitations that are important to consider.
While some claim that it can do better than a human can in almost every application, this is not exactly true. For example, I will tell you why this article you are reading was NOT written using ChatGPT.
While Microsoft’s lovesick chatbot went wildly off the rails, and, so far, ChatGPT has not in a major public way, they do share one big similar pitfall.
Microsoft has actually limited the number of queries that their chatbot can accept in a day. They say that interactions that are too long or intense confuse their chatbot and cause it to lose focus.
Similarly, ChatGPT excels at writing short songs, snippets of code, outlines, and paragraphs. It can answer questions with quantitative fact-based answers.
However, students who keep trying to use it to write entire essays keep getting caught. This is because, the longer the original text you ask ChatGPT to produce, the more likely you are to generate errors.
Over time, it is likely that ChatGPT will learn more and more over time and improve. However, as of now, it still requires human guidance to produce content that is relevant and makes sense.
Ethical Considerations of This New Technology
Remember, ChatGPT is a clever information aggregator and paraphraser, but it lacks human judgment and understanding.
It will repeat the same thing over and over again to meet a word count without human guidance, and even sometimes apply misinformation to meet that word count.
ChatGPT doesn’t understand irony, humor, or our general moral norms. It cannot really be applied to any task which includes abstract thinking.
Without strict safeguards, it could be used to impersonate people and spread misinformation. It could even share sensitive information by accident.
The language GhatGPT uses can become increasingly robotic and irrelevant over time if you type in your query, ask it to generate pages of content about something specialized, and don’t check its output at all.
Many people do not understand this new technology yet. They automatically assume it can produce entire novellas automatically, which are perfect and need no human input.
Some even make questionable claims or suggestions. This includes telling people that managing their health with an AI-generated diet plan is a good idea.
At least, as of now, ChatGPT can not replace novelists, dieticians, and physicians.
Worker Exploitation and Groundbreaking AI
Also, there are some ethical issues in how it was created. In order to make it less toxic, OpenAI paid Kenyan workers less than $2 an hour to be exposed to the darkest material online and flag it. This includes things like sexual violence, bestiality, and torture.
It is important to consider how many large Western technology corporations use similar tactics to build ‘less offensive’ artificial intelligence models. This practice is common in Africa and Asia.
ChatGPT is promising and fascinating. It has exciting wide applications across the world of tech, business, and entertainment, it also has some practical and ethical issues baked into it.
Many are already wondering how soon and if it will replace many workers. Could Chat GPT potentially increase global poverty?
Like all tools, it has its ideal applications and its limitations. It is impossible to say what the exact effects will be longterm. We are still figuring these out!
How Are People Already Using ChatGPT?
Let’s take a look at some of the innovative ways people are already making use of this exciting tool!
Content creators are actually using it to inform their content. Some have said that it has helped them go viral. In the finance world, experts are starting to apply ChatGPT to predict stock market fluctuations with promising results.
So far there are no real competitors, but there may be some soon. China-based tech giant Alibaba is working on its own generative AI technology. Elon Musk says that he plans to launch a competing AI that is safer and powered by Microsoft.
However, despite various safety concerns ChatGPT is becoming increasingly embedded in all sorts of applications.
In one more fun example, the ChatGPT-powered app Superchat allows users to talk to fictional characters and historical figures.
It is also important to note that many employers are now seeking employees that have ChatGPT skills. It is safe to say that this technology will likely only become more ingrained into our daily lives and the world of work with time.
Final Thoughts on ChatGPT
It’s truly an exciting time in the world of tech! This major advancement will likely bring about big changes as we figure out how to employ it in more and more areas of life.
Overall, ChatGPT provides a useful way to get answers to questions quickly and generate various kinds of content. While it is still in development, this technology has the potential to become incredibly helpful and will have far-reaching effects.
With its ability to generate human-like text and answer short questions accurately, ChatGPT could prove itself invaluable to people of all walks of life who need quick access to information. However, what it offers goes far deeper than this.
It is set to revolutionize how conversations between humans and machines are managed, quickly proving itself an essential part of how we interact with technology in our everyday lives.
What do you think? Comment below.
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