Key Takeaways
- AI researcher OpenAI released a language model that uses vast quantities of information to perform all sorts of language-based tasks.
- From journalism to software engineering, ChatGPT has some wondering if we’re at the beginning of a new industrial revolution.
You’ve probably heard of ChatGPT by now. It’s dominated the internet for months, and trust us when we say that this is only the beginning. The revolutionary new technology is poised to reshape the way we work, play, learn, and live. It’s also a lot to wrap your head around at first.
Today, we aim to bring you up to speed. We’ll start by exploring the origins, uses, and limitations of ChatGPT. Then, we’ll show you how to use it and take a peek at Microsoft’s plans for ChatGPT in the future.
What is It?
It all starts with a not-so-little Artificial Intelligence research and deployment company called OpenAI. The company is all-in-one AI, and dedicates its growing resources to building autonomous systems for the benefit of all humanity. Early adopters began to take notice following the release of OpenAI’s image creation tool DALL-E-2.
The buzz around OpenAI only got louder with the advent of ChatGPT. Released as part of a free research preview at the tail end of 2022, ChatGPT crossed a million users in just five days, and made the research company a household name in just a few months, So, what is it?
ChatGPT is a language generation software that’s guided through a familiar chat style interface. Users ask it questions or assign it text-based tasks, and ChatGPT responds with human-like text in a matter of seconds. OpenAI trained the model on a massive amount of internet-sourced text data, resulting in one of the most powerful language-based AI models ever made.
What It Can Do
It may look like the sort of chatbot you see at the bottom of a sales-driven website, and that’s part of the appeal. If you know how to ask a question, then you know how to use ChatGPT. But the practical uses of OpenAI’s latest innovation reaches much further than lead generation.
Users all over the world are getting it to write everything from emails and poems, to essays and research papers. The text-based tech can even be used to solve programming problems and code. Some are using it to find efficiencies in their jobs, while others have stopped using Google altogether.
There’s no telling what future versions of ChatGPT may be capable of, and usage of the latest version is evolving as we speak. Analysts are already fearful for the future of journalism, search engines, and software engineers, but ChatGPT isn’t without its limitations.
What It Can’t Do
As impressive as ChatGPT is, the trending AI model isn’t exactly infallible or all-powerful. Some of that is due to initial shortcomings, but OpenAI has made note of a few baked-in restrictions.
OpenAI is committed to investing in AI with the purpose of human betterment. As such, they’ve restricted the chatbot’s ability to entertain some queries. As far as restrictions are concerned, ChatGPT will not answer any questions or tasks that are discriminatory, offensive, or inappropriate, including questions that are:
- Racist
- Homophobic
- Transphobic
- Sexist
- Hateful
- Illegal
It isn’t perfect either. We expect sizable performance boosts to be rolled out with the passage of time, and as the model is fine-tuned, ChatGPT does struggle with accuracy and bias issues. You can’t exactly trust the data or advice it spits out without verifying it afterwards. The model’s ability to code and write software is also a lot more limited than it seems at first.
What’s Next for ChatGPT?
It didn’t take long for the news of a free chatbot capable of completing homework in seconds to cause an uproar in the education sector. Online publications, software companies, and every-day Americans are already experimenting with new ways to make their lives easier and their day more efficient.
Microsoft already backed OpenAI, and recently doubled down with even more financing and more research resources. The tech giant plans to integrate AI tools into all of their consumer and enterprise products. What that might look like, and how it might shape the future of industry is anyone’s guess.
One Giant Leap
The internet has a new “game-changing” technology hopping on the hype train every single day it seems. But it’s hard to see ChatGPT going the way of the Segway. The hype is undoubtedly real, and we’re excited to watch this breakthrough technology re-shape the world as we know it in real time.
There’s no telling what the future holds, but you don’t have to sit on your hands. ChatGPT is free to use right now! Millions of working professionals are already relying on it to draft emails, answer questions, and more. Try it out yourself and embrace the efficiency of what some are calling the advent of another industrial revolution.