The AI Revolution: Chat GPT
A nearly unbelievable AI has been released to the public for free! I encourage all to start learning about our potential future.
On Wednesday, December 7th, the beta version of “ChatGPT” was released by OpenAI as a free trial for the internet to explore. All anyone has to do is create an account and verify their phone number to gain access to what I describe as an incredible tool, something I only thought of in the context of movies like “Iron Man.” I want to preface this article with a warning: I am very much out of my element here; I know nothing of artificial intelligence. I am writing about this topic related to my personal experience with this dialogue-based AI. I am enamored with the program and increasingly excited about what it could mean for our future. In other words, I don’t know anything! This is just really cool!
ChatGPT is (checks the internet)
“A prototype dialogue-based AI chatbot capable of understanding natural human language and generating impressively detailed human-like written text” (Lock, 2022).
I would describe it as the infant, text-based version of “Jarvis” from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Here is ChatGPT describing itself in its own words
Its capabilities are far reaching for what it is. I would say the answer provided by GPT does a poor job of explaining what this tool can really do:
ChatGPT can be helpful to anyone in nearly any line of work. Have a last-minute deadline for an essay about (insert topic)? It can write that. Are you looking for a thoroughly original poem, song, or speech? It can also do that. Students can use it to write their papers or copy and paste an entire test to generate answers immediately. Not only can it do math problems, but it will give a step-by-step process of how it solves the equation. Movie scripts, stories, and original text-based games are all within its capabilities. Many users have celebrated its ability to write code for various requests. Someone has already used ChatGPT to code a website from scratch. It can do all these tasks and much more without access to the internet. ChatGPT could have written this article, and you might not even know it!
Let’s take a look at something more complicated. If you read my article from last week, this should be familiar. Remember my reasons for making South Carolina the first state to vote for the Democratic nominee instead of Iowa? Let’s ask GPT what it thinks.
All of the reasons it gives are correct, and many match the key reasons I discussed in my article (which was created before this program was released). I listed the following:
African American voters (bullet 1);
Region (bullet 3);
The weakness of Iowa (bullet 4).
The ability of GPT to answer more abstract and political questions provides a glimpse of additional capabilities it will develop in the future. The only item it did not mention was Joe Biden’s decisive South Carolina win in 2020 that led him to the nomination. More on that is below.
This type of AI will only get more intelligent. The version released to the public is technically GPT-3, the 3rd version of this program. The complicated tasks and input accepted will eventually pale compared to what GPT-5 or GPT-6 will be able to do when it is created. The information fed into the GPT system will grow more detailed as the generations progress. The technology that facilitates its learning (machine learning) will also get better. The implications of this are exciting yet also terrifying.
For years, people have discussed how self-driving cars could upend the trucking industry, which is the most common job in many states. Although fear-mongering has been around for years, self-driving cars and trucks have not materialized in a way that would overtake an industry or even make any noticeable impact. Meanwhile, GPT-3 is here and working; it can take a task employing a whole team and turn it into a one-person job. Unlike a self-driving car, GPT-3 is currently free. Even if this becomes a fee-based service, it will cost significantly less than hiring multiple workers for the same task. Here are some of the very few jobs GPT could replace or reduce substantially:
Contract lawyers: Copy and paste a contract into GPT, and it will explain it for you;
Speech Writers/Blog writers: GPT writes organic speeches and blogs;
Coding: GPT reduces the number of coders a project would ordinarily need;
Shadow Writers; GPT can already create whole songs; it may one day be able to write an entire book;
Nutritionists: GPT can create meal plans and workout regimens weekly.
There have already been calls to limit what GPT can do by implementing programming constraints or limiting who can use it. Restricting its use (and how would that be determined?) would be a colossal mistake that would ultimately favor those in power (wealthy executives/politicians). The truth is that some limitations may be warranted; left unchecked, GPT will eventually force us to restructure our economy and system of employment, something many people would resist. Never mind the social unrest this would cause. My limited knowledge of AI hampers the potential solutions I can conceive. However, the capabilities of GPT are a threat to jobs. Some guidelines for its use should be created.
I encourage you to sign up and play around with GPT. Maybe ask its opinion on whether AI will rise and overthrow humanity one day. Or, ask it to summarize your favorite book. You can check it out here: ChatGPT
TLDR: After playing around with ChatGPT for over a week I believe everyone should get familiar with this powerful technology.