Companies, especially larger ones, need to be extremely cautious when it comes to implementing Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. Such technology, like ChatGPT and its likes, can be very tempting to use in the workplace as they may appear to be a much more cost-efficient solution for fulfilling a specific task. However, the truth of the matter is that it may not be ready to replace people just yet.
Goldman Sachs, for example, recently predicted that generative AI could replace 300 million full-time jobs by 2030, and IBM paused all hiring as a result of the potential for up to 7800 positions to be transitioned over to AI chatbots by the end of this fiscal year. There is a trend of large companies utilizing generative AI to replace human workers, but this could be a grave mistake.
Despite the impressing nature of AI-driven ChatGPT and other customer service tools, they are still prone to making up stuff. This could lead to confusion and wrong conclusions if not taken with caution. For example, an AI-powered customer service tool might say that James Joyce and Vladimir Lenin had a meeting in Zurich, in 1916, even though it never happened.
Bing, a popular search engine utilized by AI-powered customer service tools, can lead you down the wrong path if you don’t fact-check them. It happened just recently when Bing AI was fed a Q3 2022 financial Gap Clothing’s report and got much of it wrong while even citing bogus sources to back up its answers.
In addition, Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO, has publicly said that AI should not be relied upon for “anything important”, which speaks for itself. If you want to depend on AI for customer service tasks, make sure you have subject matter experts and fact-checkers double-checking the output to make sure it is correct.
The point remains that AI is nowhere near perfect, and it is definitely not a replacement for people just yet. So, while AI technology can be used in the workplace to help in certain tasks, it should never be seen as an adequate replacement for people in the long run.
When it comes to the company mentioned in this article, the main culprit is Goldman Sachs. They are the ones that predicted that AI could replace 300 million full-time jobs and their predictions are driving the conversation about AI and the replacement of human workers.
The person mentioned in this article is Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI. He has been quite vocal about his opinion on how AI should not be relied upon for “anything important”, speaking to its current limitations. With his words, Sam Altman has provided important information and insights about the limitations of AI technology, helping to prevent companies from making decisions that could be detrimental to their businesses.
