New research conducted by Whitney Zhang and Shakked Noy, economic PhD students from MIT, reveals that OpenAI’s ChatGPT can significantly enhance the writing performance of individuals with weaker writing skills. The study involved 453 volunteers, including professionals from various fields such as marketing, grant writing, and management.
Participants were initially assigned tasks that required writing press releases, short reports, and other written documents. Half of the participants were then instructed to incorporate ChatGPT into their workflow. The researchers found that individuals who had initially scored low in the assignment displayed a noticeable improvement in the quality of their work when using ChatGPT. Importantly, all participants, regardless of their initial scores, completed the tasks much faster with the assistance of the AI chatbot.
On average, participants took 27 minutes to complete the initial assignment. However, with ChatGPT’s support, this time was reduced to just 12 minutes. Zhang highlighted the potential long-term impact of this technology, stating that it could lead to a reduction in inequality as performance becomes more equal across different skill groups.
While the findings of the study are promising, Anton Korinek, an economist at The Brookings Institution, cautioned that white-collar workers with strong writing skills could potentially face devaluation in the labor market due to the increased accessibility of AI writing tools like ChatGPT.
Interestingly, the study revealed that the AI chatbot didn’t significantly impact the writing abilities of proficient writers. Despite using ChatGPT, these individuals did not extensively edit or modify the text generated by the bot, and minor changes made by them did not significantly alter their scores.
In conclusion, the study suggests that ChatGPT has the potential to bridge the gap between weak and proficient writers, resulting in improved writing performance for individuals with weaker skills. However, it is important to carefully consider the potential implications for the labor market and the devaluation of certain skill sets. Overall, ChatGPT appears to be a valuable tool in enhancing writing productivity, but its impact on skilled writers may be limited.
