A Year Of ChatGPT: 5 Ways The AI Marvel Has Changed The World
OpenAI’s artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT has made a significant impact since its launch one year ago. With 100 million users in just two months, it became the fastest-growing app ever. Now available to over a billion people through Microsoft’s Bing search, Skype, and Snapchat, ChatGPT has propelled OpenAI to be predicted to earn over US$1 billion in annual revenue.
Unlike previous technology rollouts, ChatGPT’s rapid deployment was facilitated by existing infrastructure. Consequently, its influence extends beyond trivial tasks like writing Shakespearean-style retirement poems. ChatGPT has given the public a glimpse into our AI-powered future, transforming the world in several ways.
Firstly, ChatGPT has forced governments worldwide to confront the significant challenges posed by AI. United States President Joe Biden issued a presidential executive order to establish new AI safety and security standards, while also promoting equity, civil rights, innovation, and American leadership in AI. The United Kingdom organized the first-ever intergovernmental AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park, the birthplace of the WWII Enigma code-breaker. However, the European Union has struggled to adapt its AI Act to address frontier models like ChatGPT, temporarily sacrificing its early lead in AI regulation.
Moreover, ChatGPT has expanded the concern beyond blue-collar workers to white-collar professionals such as graphic designers and lawyers. A study revealed a decline of over 10% in earnings for writing and editing jobs since ChatGPT’s launch. The gig economy is particularly vulnerable to these changes, raising doubts about whether AI will create more jobs than it destroys. The disruptive nature of AI in the workplace is now certain.
In the education sector, ChatGPT faced initial resistance as schools and education authorities promptly banned its use. Teachers worried about the implications for homework when an AI chatbot was capable of writing essays. However, the need for research skills, critical thinking, and domain knowledge remains unchanged. While AI can offer benefits, such as being fine-tuned into Socratic tutors, the development of essential skills remains integral.
Authors worldwide are grappling with a personal concern surrounding ChatGPT. Large language models like ChatGPT, trained on copyrighted books downloaded from the web without author consent, have sparked controversy. Multiple class-action suits are underway in the US to examine if this constitutes a copyright violation. Examples have also emerged of entire chunks of copyrighted text being generated verbatim in chatbot conversations.
In the short term, generative AI tools like ChatGPT raise concerns about the creation and spread of misinformation and disinformation. The worry extends beyond synthetic text to include deepfake audio and videos, which are indistinguishable from real ones. Instances have already occurred, such as a bank robbery facilitated with AI-generated cloned voices. The potential impact on elections is alarming, as demonstrated in the 2023 Slovak parliamentary election campaign where fake audio clips of electoral fraud reached thousands through social media. Combining the reach of social media with the persuasive power of AI-generated fake content poses a significant risk to our already fragile democracies.
Looking ahead, the future remains uncertain. However, the events of 2023 indicate the need to brace ourselves for what lies ahead. As the boundaries of technology continue to be pushed, it becomes increasingly vital to carefully consider the implications and take proactive measures to mitigate potential harms.
