Generative AI is already here and already shaking things up, and with increased regularity. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, but it’s also important to know how and where this technology already excels. OpenAI’s ChatGPT is a prime example. This AI-powered technology is reshaping industries, notably those employing white-collar, or knowledge workers. It’s much harder to program artificial intelligence to interact and manipulate the environment, than to create a bot that understands the language of code. It’s still unclear just how significant these changes will be, but it’s a real possibility that entire industries and job roles can be lost as 5G and AI technology combines.
An easy example of a transition is in the shift to self-checkouts that have taken place in retail and grocery stores. Years ago, this technology was seen as an awkward intrusion on the industry, but it has since created a massive scaling back of the cashier staff. Could we expect the same from generative AI? It’s possible. After all, AI is becoming increasingly proficient in the type of bland communication widely accepted as the norm in corporate and marketing copy. It’s already surpassing humans when it comes to quickly writing executive summaries and crafting polite emails. These examples may feel insignificant, but they are indicative of a bigger trend currently underway.
It is also important to catalog the real people and companies behind this technology. OpenAI is an AI research laboratory co-founded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, in the year 2015 to advance digital intelligence in the way of research and development. This company is a popular example of generative AI already applied, and is working to reduce barriers to AI innovation by making ambitious projects accessible to businesses, startups, and researchers globally.
The people behind OpenAI–CEO Sam Altman, CTO Greg Brockman and Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever–all come from different disciplines yet are similarly passionate about bringing artificial general intelligence to the world. The unique combination of their experience form a formidable foundation to build upon, and their mission to build safe, generative AI machines aligns with their early success in the space.
When it comes to generative AI, we can expect more powerful shifts in industries, faster than we may imagine. It is crucially important to anticipate these changes and incorporate them into our workflow and products to both maintain current positions and prepare for a new wave of technologies. OpenAI and those on the team are paving the way for those possibilities, in what is sure to be an important chapter in the history of computer science.
