OpenAI last week opened up access to ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot that interacts with users in an eerily convincing and conversational way. Its ability to provide lengthy, thoughtful and thorough responses to questions and prompts — even if inaccurate — has stunned users, including academics and some in the tech industry.
But as with other AI-powered tools, it also poses possible concerns, including for how it could disrupt creative industries, perpetuate biases and spread misinformation.
What is ChatGPT?
“It depends on what activities you plan to do. If you plan to be outside, you should wear a light jacket or sweater, long pants, and closed-toe shoes,” ChatGPT responded. “If you plan to be inside, you can wear a t-shirt and jeans or other comfortable clothing.”
But some users are getting very creative.
How people are using it
In a blog post last week, OpenAI said the “format makes it possible for the tool to answer follow-up questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests.”
As of Monday morning, the page to try ChatGPT was down, citing “exceptionally high demand.” “Please hang tight as we work on scaling our systems,” the message said. (It now appears to be back online).
Possible issues
Beyond the issue of spreading incorrect information, the tool could also threaten some written professions, be used to explain problematic concepts, and as with all AI tools, perpetuate biases based on the pool of data on which it’s trained. Typing a prompt involving a CEO, for example, could prompt a response assuming that the individual is white and male, for example.
Still, Lian Jye Su, a research director at market research firm ABI Research, warns the chatbot is operating “without a contextual understanding of the language.”
“It is very easy for the model to give plausible-sounding but incorrect or nonsensical answers,” she said. “It guessed when it was supposed to clarify and sometimes responded to harmful instructions or exhibited biased behavior. It also lacks regional and country-specific understanding.”
At the same time, however, it does provide a glimpse into how companies may be able to capitalize on developing more robust virtual assistance, as well as patient and customer care solutions.
While the DALL-E tool is free, it does put a limit on the number of prompts a user can do before having to pay. When Elon Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI, recently asked Altman on Twitter about the average cost per ChatGPT chat, Altman said: “We will have to monetize it somehow at some point; the compute costs are eye-watering.”
Source : Nbcnewyork