Most people will have heard of ChatGPT after it went viral last year. This advanced chatbot tool is in the spotlight at the moment thanks to its impressive capabilities and the intriguing possibilities it presents for the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
But what is ChatGPT and does it live up to the hype?
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is a chatbot tool developed by OpenAI, a research company dedicated to AI and its potential uses. You may also know them from their art-to-text image generator tool, DALL-E 2, which creates bizarre but sometimes beautiful AI art.
ChatGPT is a chatbot tool that answers inputted queries from a user. The bot is currently free to use for anyone with an OpenAI account. Due to its increasing popularity and easy accessibility, it is prone to network errors and overloading capacity. This possibly explains why OpenAI is currently trialling a paid version in the US, costing $20 a month for priority access to new features and the unimpeded ability to use the platform even at times of peak capacity.
What does ChatGPT do?
ChatGPT uses AI to answer queries and create text according to a request inputted by the user. For example, you could ask it to “Explain the history of the automobile” and it would generate a few paragraphs of in-depth information automatically. You can ask it general or specific questions, although it may ask you for more context if your request is not detailed enough. The answers read convincingly as if a human has written them.
It uses information taken from the internet to construct its answers. However, the data it uses isn’t live, as it pulls this from a 2021 version of the internet. This means that its knowledge of events after 2021 is limited. There are also many instances of it producing inaccurate information. OpenAI programmers are working to improve the bot so that it can answer more complex questions and provide consistently accurate and up-to-date content.
Does ChatGPT live up to the hype?
ChatGPT represents an impressive advancement in AI technology, showing the potential AI tools may have in the future. People are enjoying testing the bots’ capabilities as it is certainly fascinating to see how far its capabilities can go. There’s no doubt that AI could potentially be a time-saver for many businesses going forward when it comes to writing code, producing content and interacting with customers, and some even think it could replace search engines.
However, it doesn’t come without its issues. As mentioned, ChatGPT is prone to producing inaccuracies and, of course, anything that learns from the internet is bound to reproduce offensive material. This shows that a purely AI approach to creating content is flawed because human intervention is vital – and losing human essence in content could result in significantly reduced quality. There are also copyright and fair use issues to consider, not to mention the potential for the program to be used for malicious purposes.
So, while ChatGPT has its uses and is an incredible piece of technology, users shouldn’t lose sight of its drawbacks amidst so much media hype. As a business tool, ChatGPT has certainly got potential, but you shouldn’t be replacing your team with this AI bot yet!
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