What's the Deal With ChatGPT?
On November 30, 2022, ChatGPT was released to the digital world. Now, fast-forward to summer of 2023, and there are a lot of people talking about this service. Is it going to replace jobs? Is it smart enough to replace the human touch? Can you tell when something is written by ChatGPT?
Let’s get into what all the buzz is about!
What is ChatGPT?
Basically, ChatGPT was developed by Open AI, using artificial intelligence to mimic human conversation through writing. It’s popular…at the end of January 2023 it had over 100 millions users and Open AI is valued at $29 billion dollars! It’s the biggest thing to happen to the online world in a while.
When you go to the ChatGPT site, you can ask questions or give instructions—just like Google—except it’ll give you a beautifully written response. For example, I asked Chat GPT to write me a three sentence paragraph about “Why CTV Morning News Saskatoon is awesome” and this was the answer I got:
What Are the Capabilities of ChatGPT?
Although the core function of a chatbot is to mimic a human conversationalist, ChatGPT is versatile. For example, it can write and debug computer programs, compose music, teleplays, fairy tales, and student essays, answer test questions (sometimes, depending on the test, at a level above the average human test-taker), and write poetry and song lyrics.
The Downsides of ChatGPT
The first and biggest pitfall is that the information it creates may sound good, but it might be completely wrong or not make any sense. Although proponents say the AI is learning every day and will get better and better, I still think it will need humans to review the information for accuracy for a while.
Also, teachers and professors are quite concerned about students using ChatGPT to write their essays and schoolwork (this is happening!). However, there have already been some tech tools created to detect when people have used ChatGPT to write something.
ChatGPT in Businesses
Well, there are many professions of writers, artists and creators who may be affected by people using ChatGPT instead of their services. I’m not worried yet - ChatGPT can be used as a good base for writing, but it will still need human intervention to ensure the right points are being made and that the information is accurate and has that special human aspect.