An AI (artificial intelligence) powered chatbot is creating a buzz across the internet—but this powerful and entertaining tool could have greater implications for internet usage in the future.
Key Details
- ChatGPT has access to vast amounts of data compiled by researchers up to the year 2021.
- Through its treasure-trove of knowledge, the chatbot is able to answer nearly any question that a user asks, though the site warns that the bot is not infallible.
- Its ability to answer questions could pose a problem for Big Tech companies that are in the business of search engines.
Why it’s news
When a user types a question into ChatGPT, the answer populates in a paragraph format rather than supplying a list of links like Google does.
For example, if asked, “what is inflation?” the bot responds, “Inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising, and subsequently, purchasing power is falling. Central banks attempt to limit inflation, and avoid deflation, in order to keep the economy running smoothly,” in the first paragraph.
But the chatbot isn’t just a tool for providing definitions to users. When asked to provide something like a recipe, ChatGPT is able to provide a concise, accurate recipe without the long backstory that accompanies many recipe blogs.
However, unlike Google, a user may receive a slightly different answer each time a question is asked—though it will likely contain the same basic information. Some have also warned that the AI is able to make mistakes. Its data collection also ends in 2021, meaning some of its information is incomplete.
Additionally, anyone who uses ChatGPT to find answers to questions won’t have a source to back up the information—just the word of an AI chatbot.
Writers and teachers have also begun to worry about the bot’s ability to come up with well-written essays following word count specifications and other parameters.
OpenAI developers that created ChatGPT may have finally begun to bridge the gap between humans and tech that can allow bots to communicate with humans as if they, too, were human.
Within the first five days of its release, more than 1 million users signed on to the chatbot.