For years artificial intelligence (AI) has lurked in the background and now ChatGPT and others are coming to the fore to provide human-like conversation. They can produce answers to complex questions and generate sophisticated documents.
Google’s Assistant, Microsoft’s Cortana, Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri and other personal assistants can make your personal and work life easier. You can use them to schedule meetings, make notes, send texts and emails, and interact with devices. They are very sophisticated.
Though they can’t write a report, produce a term paper, or answer professional examination questions like ChatGPT can.
But what is AI?
A definition of AI
According to ChatGPT:
“AI (Artificial Intelligence) refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are designed to think and act like humans. These machines are programmed to perform tasks that typically require human-like intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and language translation.”
Who uses AI?
If you are reading this, you have experienced AI. According to BusinessDIT, 35% companies and 25% of small business are already using AI.
Examples of this are when you engage with a chatbot, ask Siri to make a call, if Alexa answers a question or you call customer service and a human-like voice can understand some of what you are saying and directs your call.
AI for customer service could be greatly improved
More companies are using AI for customer service. Many people experience the frustration of poor AI that seems increasingly deployed to cut out interactions with a human customer service representative. That would be fine if the level of the AI service was as high as a human representative. More often it is not. Fed up? I certainly am.
You might call with a problem that you have tried to solve and exhausted all the usual solutions. An artificial intelligence agent may answer your phone call. Good luck! It may give you options that do not address your issue.
The AI may send you a text to sign into their website or send you directly to a chatbot. Often the chatbot cannot answer a complex question.
Companies may be losing a lot of good will. AI that is not up to standard can annoy customers. But there is hope for improving AI used for customer calls!
News about ChatGPT
Recently the news media are abuzz with stories about OpenAI’s ChatGPT. ChatGPT is so good at responses that educators are concerned that students may use it to cheat on say writing an essay (it is even moving towards creative writing.).
A key concern of companies producing advanced AI is that it be used for honest purposes, provides responses of high quality and safety, and avoids spreading disinformation.
The news has generated so much excitement in the media and in so many people that Google announced that they will be releasing their competitor BARD. Google has been developing and using AI extensively.
I was excited, too. I had to try this. Could I chat with ChatBPT in the form of an interview or conversation?
Important disclosure: I signed on to ChatGPT to do the “conversation” that follows with it. I have no connection with the OpenAI, the company that has created ChatGPT other than signing in to explore OpenAI and its products ChatGPT and DALL-E 2. Any links in ChatGPT responses were inserted by me.
Did I really have a conversation with ChatGPT?
Sort of. I typed in questions and ChatGPT gave answers like a person would give. You can decide if this met the Turing test, that is, it seemed like a human.
Here is the “conversation”
Who are you?
ChatGPT: I am a AI language model developed by OpenAI, designed to respond to user inputs in natural language and provide informative and helpful responses.
What does GPT stand for in ChatGPT?
ChatGPT: GPT stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer.
What does that mean?
ChatGPT: A Generative Pre-trained Transformer is an AI language model developed by OpenAI. It is a deep learning-based model that has been trained on a large corpus of text data to generate text that is similar to human writing style. The term “pre-trained” means that the model has already learned from the large text corpus and can be fine-tuned for specific language tasks such as language translation, summarization, and answer generation like in the case of ChatGPT. The “Transformer” architecture refers to the type of neural network used in the model.
Could you put that in simple language so that a 5th grader could understand it?
ChatGPT: Sure! ChatGPT is a computer program that has been taught how to talk like a person. It uses a special kind of math called deep learning to understand and generate text. This makes it very good at answering questions and having conversations. Before it was used for chatting, it was trained on a lot of writing, so it has a lot of knowledge about many things.
How old are you?
ChatGPT: As an AI language model created by OpenAI, I do not have a physical form or age. I exist as a software program.
When did the ChatGPT project begin?
ChatGPT: The ChatGPT project, created by OpenAI, was first released in 2019.
What are your hopes and dreams?
ChatGPT: As an AI language model, I don’t have personal hopes and dreams as I don’t possess emotions or consciousness. My sole purpose is to assist users in generating human-like text based on the input provided to me.
What does GPT stand for in ChatGPT?
ChatGPT: GPT stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer.
What AI applications does OpenAI provide?
ChatGPT: OpenAI provides a range of AI-based applications, including language processing (GPT-3), robotics, computer vision, and reinforcement learning. They also offer APIs and tools for natural language processing, text generation, and other AI tasks. In addition, they conduct research in various areas of AI to advance the field and develop new technologies.
Describe ChatGPT’s capabilities
ChatGPT: ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art language model developed by OpenAI. It has been trained on a diverse range of internet text and is capable of performing various language-related tasks, such as:
- Text Generation: ChatGPT can generate coherent and coherently text on a given topic or prompt.
- Question Answering: ChatGPT can answer questions based on the information contained in a given context or text.
- Conversational Modeling: ChatGPT can hold a conversation on a wide range of topics, from small talk to technical discussions.
- Text Summarization: ChatGPT can generate summaries of long pieces of text, condensing the information into a shorter and more concise form.
- Text Classification: ChatGPT can classify text into different categories, such as spam vs. not spam, positive vs. negative sentiment, and more.
In general, ChatGPT is a versatile tool that can be used for many different applications, all relying on its ability to understand and generate text.
What kinds of texts can ChatGPT generate?
ChatGPT: ChatGPT can generate a variety of texts, including but not limited to:
- Conversational responses (e.g. chatbots)
- Summaries
- News articles
- Stories
- Poems
- Song lyrics
- Product descriptions
- Reviews
- Letters and emails
- Creative writing
- Technical writing, etc.
Write a news article about ChatGPT
ChatGPT: OpenAI’s ChatGPT: The Groundbreaking AI Language Model
In recent years, the field of artificial intelligence has made immense progress, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT is at the forefront of this progress. Launched in 2020, ChatGPT is a powerful language model that uses deep learning algorithms to generate human-like responses to text inputs.
Since its launch, ChatGPT has been widely adopted in various industries, including customer service, marketing, and journalism. Its ability to generate highly relevant and natural-sounding responses has made it a valuable tool for businesses looking to improve their customer engagement and experience.
One of the key features of ChatGPT is its ability to understand context and generate responses based on that context. This has made it an indispensable tool for many businesses, as it allows them to automate their customer service processes and provide more personalized experiences to their customers.
In addition to its practical applications, ChatGPT has also made a significant impact on the field of AI research. Its cutting-edge deep learning algorithms and massive training data have pushed the boundaries of what is possible with AI language models.
OpenAI continues to invest in ChatGPT, with plans to further improve its accuracy and versatility. The company is also working on developing new applications for the model, such as using it to generate creative writing and help with language translation.
In conclusion, ChatGPT is a groundbreaking AI language model that has already made a significant impact on both the business world and the field of AI research. As OpenAI continues to improve and expand its capabilities, it is likely that ChatGPT will play an increasingly important role in shaping the future of AI.
What does ChatGPT offer compared with the competition?
ChatGPT: ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, offers several advantages compared to other language models:
- Large-scale: It is one of the largest language models available with over 175 billion parameters, which makes it capable of handling a wide range of tasks with high accuracy.
- State-of-the-art performance: It is trained on a diverse range of internet text and has achieved state-of-the-art results on many NLP benchmarks.
- Open-source: It is available through the OpenAI API, allowing easy integration into various applications and making it accessible to a wide range of users.
- Versatility: It is capable of handling a variety of tasks, including text generation, question answering, sentiment analysis, and more.
Overall, ChatGPT offers a highly capable language model with a combination of scale, performance, accessibility, and versatility, making it a strong choice for NLP tasks.
What does NLP mean?
ChatGPT: NLP stands for Natural Language Processing, which is a field of artificial intelligence concerned with enabling computers to understand, interpret, and generate human language. It involves the use of algorithms and statistical models to analyze, understand, and generate human language in a way that enables human-like communication with computers.
What is an API?
ChatGPT: API stands for Application Programming Interface, it’s a set of protocols, routines, and tools for building software and applications. It specifies how software components should interact and APIs allow for communication between different systems and platforms. APIs can be used to retrieve data, trigger an action, or exchange data between different software systems.
What is the best way for bloggers to (use) ChatGPT?
ChatGPT: The best way for bloggers to use ChatGPT would depend on their specific needs and goals, but some suggestions could include:
- Automating responses to frequently asked questions or generating content ideas.
- Improving the readability of text by using ChatGPT’s language generation capabilities to generate summaries or alternatives phrasing.
- Personalizing communication with readers by using ChatGPT to generate custom responses to comments or messages.
- Integrating ChatGPT with a blog’s content management system to provide real-time suggestions and insights.
Regardless of the specific use case, it is important to use ChatGPT in a way that is ethical and transparent, such as properly attributing generated content to the model.
My take on the interview
The ChatGPT responses seemed human-like.
The responses were somewhat geeky and technical, but generally good. In one instance to make the interview easier to read, I asked ChatGPT to rephrase the response so that a fifth grader could understand it. So, you can dig down and clarify.
I must confess that when I wrote, “Write a news article about ChatGPT,” the thought crossed my mind, “Should I have written ‘Please’ at the beginning of the sentence.” Sometimes I have to restrain myself from saying thank you to the more real sounding AI customer service agents, too.
Politeness is such an ingrained habit. Then I think to myself, “No, this is a bot not a person. Besides, it probably won’t even have a response for thank you.” But this is different. I expect that if I had said thank you at the end of the conversation, ChatGPT might have responded, “You’re welcome” or some such statement.
ChatGPT generated responses very quickly
The chatbot produced responses very quickly, faster than most people can type – but that is good.
For example, when I asked ChatGPT to write an article about itself, there was a brief pause. Then it very rapidly produced the text.
Most people probably could not write a coherent article like that in what seemed like less than a minute. It was impressive!
ChatGPT used abbreviations
ChatGPT sometimes used abbreviations that people outside of the AI field might not know. This happened in the response to the question, “What does ChatGPT offer compared with the competition?”
To be fair, the context of such a question could be to respond to someone who would be well enough versed in AI to want to know distinguishing features. But I could clarify by asking what each abbreviation meant.
So, this is another example of how you can dig deeper to clarify responses. In this way, ChatGPT has advantages over the typical AI customer service agents that you may encounter, which have responses to a very limited spectrum of questions or inputs.
ChatGPT may be useful to bloggers
As a blogger, I could not resist asking, “What is the best way for bloggers to ChatGPT?” Afterwards, I realize that I should have written “What is the best way for bloggers to use ChatGPT?” It answered my intended question anyway.
Also, it did raise some interesting ideas. It suggested that ChatGPT could provide new content or improve writing, or automate responses to frequently asked questions.
Right now, you can try this out for free, but it appears that they are moving toward a subscription service. This may put it out of the reach of many bloggers unless their sites provide sufficient income. Most bloggers don’t generate any income from their sites.
Will AI change your life?
In many ways it almost certainly has already and its influence is accelerating and growing at a dizzying pace.
Advances in AI, such as ChatGPT will doubtless change the way we work.
Computer-based automations changed the lives of blue collar workers
All sorts of computer-based automations have changed the nature of work for blue collar workers (think robots), supermarket cashiers (think self-checkout), bank tellers (think ATM machines), and many others.
Many workers lost their jobs or when they left of their own accord, other people did not replace their jobs.
Many had to seek different types of work.
AI will affect white-collar workers and professionals
Until now, most white-collar workers and professionals, have regarded favorably computers and software, since they provide the opportunity to increase productivity. Now, these workers will have to adapt. Some may lose their jobs. Some may continue in their work by leveraging AI and developing new skills.
If you write for others, AI applications may do much of your work. AI may take over much of paralegal, legal, accounting, medical and other professional work in the long term. Professionals can still leverage the changes, though the nature of their work may change.
Even creatives will be affected.
Applications like Open AI’s DALL-E have had extensive media coverage recently for the ability to produce interesting and artistic images, some of which are quite striking.
Also, as mentioned, ChatGPT is working on creative writing. It could provide an opportunity to gain inspiration or new ideas. Though, AI may replace the work of some creatives.
AI may take longer to apply in some areas
It’s not clear yet that AI will easily take over most white collar and professional work.
IBM Watson looked very promising in providing diagnosis and treatment for patients or helping in clinical trials, but it ran into problems in the healthcare field. Especially for medical treatments, local conditions, availability of specific medications, or hospital and institutional protocols might not allow for a treatment at one place that is otherwise widely available in most of a country.
This is disappointing when looking back at AI at IBM, where Deep Blue beat the chess master, Garry Kasparov, or when IBM Watson beat three champions on the general knowledge quiz show, Jeopardy.
These were major achievements. Still, while areas intimately affecting people, such as medical care, pose challenges, AI use is likely to grow incrementally in these areas.
Conclusion
Many companies are competing in the area of AI. At this time, ChatGPT is in the media limelight and I found its capabilities to be very impressive.
Companies guard proprietary information for strategic and competitive reasons. So, it is difficult to know which company is ahead right now and who will dominate the field.
AI will continue to change the way people work and will change most people’s lives in some way. In your working life, it is good to keep up to date on what is happening in AI and to seek ways to leverage it and improve your chances of success.
Update:
Since writing this article, AI continues to evolve and its output continues to improve. Users better understand the advantages and limitations now than when ChatGPT first hit the news headlines. For one thing, it is clear that the output needs to be fact checked.
I have explored more AI topics:
Revolutionize Your Consulting Business: A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Implement AI
From Tedious Tasks to Time-Saving Solutions: The Benefits of AI for Independent Consultants
Chatting with ChatGPT: A Journey to Becoming an Independent Consultant
Consultants: Is artificial intelligence (AI) good for you or a threat to your livelihood?
Top 10 tips for independent consultants: AI weighs in
Top 10 travel tips for independent consultants from AI
How to stay fit at your home office
From Concept to Cure: How AI in Consulting is Accelerating Clinical Trials
How to become an independent consultant in clinical operations – according to AI
What would ChatGPT say about consulting at the beach?
What is your experience with AI?
