Chicago companies are embracing the latest technological breakthrough known as ChatGPT, with one eye on the risks of its powerful capabilities. ChatGPT has reached 100 million users in just a few months, making it the fastest-adopted technology ever, resulting in industry leaders calling for regulation and safeguards. However, it is not all doom and gloom, as technological advancements hold the promise of unleashing a new wave of productivity gains, boosting GDP and increasing labour productivity growth.
Despite the risks, several companies are already taking advantage of the many benefits of ChatGPT. Morningstar, for example, incorporated a variant of ChatGPT into several existing products, allowing users to probe the company’s information and get answers to queries, from basic to sophisticated portfolio strategy. The restaurant, Urbanbelly, is already using artificial intelligence to scour its sales data to help the kitchen workers determine how much food to prepare in certain weather conditions. The technology could result in massive savings for businesses and restaurants.
ChatGPT allows machines to understand human language and respond to complex commands such as writing a business proposal, a song or software code. What’s different is the sheer volume of conversation that the technology has ingested, combined with an easy-to-use interface that makes it instantly accessible.
The technology is powerful, but not well understood; there are concerns around misinformation, intellectual property theft and fraud. While the potential benefits are significant, policy and regulatory frameworks are needed to ensure its safe use.
J.P. Morgan and other companies are exploring the full potential of the technology, with early uses likely to be more utilitarian than spectacular, such as virtual assistants for internal use. However, experts believe that every law firm, legal department and other businesses will need to have a plan for how they’re going to use AI and start incorporating it, otherwise they will be left behind.
ChatGPT is creating waves as the world’s fastest-adopted technology, and companies need to strike a balance between the significant benefits and serious risks. Businesses need to plan and incorporate effective control mechanisms to ensure the technology is used responsibly. Overall, the future of ChatGPT is exciting, and experts predict it holds even more potential than digitisation, resulting in significant productivity gains and a boost to global GDP.
