EU police force Europol has sounded the alarm about the potential misuse of Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot. It warned of the potential misuse of ChatGPT in phishing attempts, disinformation, and cybercrime, adding to the chorus of concerns ranging from legal to ethical issues. Europol’s tech report pointed out that criminals can exploit ChatGPT as it has the ability to draft highly realistic text and reproduce language patterns to impersonate the style of speech of specific individuals or groups. Moreover, its speed and scale also makes it an ideal tool for spreading false information and creating malicious codes with minimal technical knowledge.
OpenAI is an America-based artificial intelligence research laboratory with a mission to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) has a positive impact on humanity. Its research focuses on developing and improving artificial intelligence technologies, technologies like natural language processing (NLP). OpenAI was co-founded by Elon Musk, who also serves as its CEO, and world-renowned scientists and tech veterans such as Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, and Dario Amodei.
ChatGPT, a natural language processing chatbot developed by OpenAI, has been highly popular since its launch last year. It has enabled its users to generate convincing conversations or text at a speed and scale that was previously unimaginable. However, the potential for criminal misuse of ChatGPT has sparked worries of its abuse for malicious activities. Europol’s tech report underscores the importance of taking measures to mitigate potential abuse and strengthen cybersecurity efforts.
