Since its launch in late November, ChatGPT has taken the world by storm. The chatbot’s advanced AI capabilities allow it to perform tasks such as writing essays, emails and poems, writing and debugging code, and even passing exams entirely on its own. Now that chatbots can do what humans are good at, in seconds, what does this mean for our future?
If you have had a chance to talk to an AI chatbot, you will have been impressed with its ability to respond in a conversational way and its understanding. But chatbots can do so much more, and their technical abilities are tested every day.
Also: What is ChatGPT and why is it important? here’s everything you need to know
Already, ChatGPT is changing expectations and practices in education, as well as professional fields related to technology such as coding. Some are sounding alarm bells and others are making progress, but technical analysts are still evaluating how these tools might change things.
For example, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business took the MBA exam using ChatGPT and passed with a B to B- score, and the professor was impressed with the explanation and operational management.
Professors at the University of Minnesota Law School gave ChatGPT four separate law school final exams, then blindly scored the exams and blended them with real student exams. According to the white paper, the bot passed with an average grade of C+. This score is lower than that of students, but impressive for a bot.
Professors at the University of Minnesota Law School said in a white paper, “We expect that such a language model will be an important tool for practicing lawyers in the future, and also very helpful for students who use it (legally or illegally) on law school exams. .” Experiment.
As ChatGPT’s capabilities continue to be tested, one of people’s biggest concerns about ChatGPT is how it will affect the education system. Does technological proficiency make human learning of certain skills obsolete? Will people learn less in school because of the temptation to use ChatGPT to get things done?
Schools across the country are already taking steps to curb this cheating and laziness in their classrooms. For example, the New York City Department of Education has blocked student and teacher access to ChatGPT on its network.
This issue has also been applied to higher education, with professors including rules for using ChatGPT in their syllabuses. How professors deal with AI is different for each individual, with some banning AI entirely and others taking a fairly open approach.
Wharton Associate Professor Ethan Mollick shared the syllabus policy for ChatGPT on LinkedIn so it can be integrated into student work. “There aren’t many answers yet. [about AI], but we should welcome discussion. And it teaches them how to use their tools responsibly,” said Mollick.
Another tool in your toolbox?
According to Sid Nag, analyst for cloud services and technologies at Gartner, embracing AI-generated technologies can actually help enhance students’ education.
“It’s like saying, ‘Does using a calculator impair people’s ability to add 1 plus 1 plus 2?’ No.”
A factor to remember when discussing AI is that many of the tasks AI can perform are inherently tedious and time-consuming. In many cases doing these things doesn’t add much value to the overall goal.
also: How to get started with ChatGPT
For example, if you are working on a major research project, writing an introduction to your thesis or writing code is a very small part of the project, and a thorough analysis and interpretation of that code is of utmost importance.
Rajeesh Kandaswamy, AI innovation analyst at Gartner, told ZDNET that over time, the technology underlying ChatGPT will “dramatically” automate routine writing and coding tasks.
Kandaswamy points out, “However, there are many creative and unique writing and coding involving imagination, synthesis, and other complexities that are not easily addressed by these AI tools.”
Beyond the education system, people often worry about generative AI tools replacing human jobs. However, as these models evolve, they still require humans to generate the correct output. AI chatbots are very good at passing out words or codes, but less good at knowing if they are good or accurate. Without guidance from someone versed in the subject at hand, these tools are much less useful.
“Just because you have a toolbox doesn’t mean you know how to fix broken gadgets, right?” Nag says
new job category
In fact, the more these models grow, the more they need support. New jobs and more studies are needed. With some trivial tasks removed, chances are that the role will simply transition to another role created to support AI.
ChatGPT and its underlying features will have a lot to do with some of these technologies, says Kandaswamy. “However, these capabilities can also lead to new products and services, either directly through what these technologies do or based on what they do.”
also: ChatGPT can write code. Now, researchers say it’s also good for bug fixing.
Finally, before we see major changes in our daily lives, the technology needs to be proven to be reliable and infallible, and we haven’t reached that point yet at this point.
“ChatGPT is prone to mistakes and produces false output (hallucinations). That doesn’t make it useless, but it’s unreliable at the moment,” continues Kandaswamy. “Usage at scale where quality and accuracy are critical requires support mechanisms, testing and other quality checks.”
The future of generative AI sources like ChatGPT is promising and has the potential to drastically change the way we work. We may be at the same point now as when the Internet was first introduced decades ago. There’s a lot of potential, but there’s still a long way to go. And while tools like ChatGPT are opening up new possibilities, they are far from perfect.
“Yes, this is revolutionary and I wouldn’t be surprised if the impact on business and society at large surpasses the Internet. Time will tell. We are in the early stages,” says Kandaswamy.
ZDNET’s Monday Opener
ZDNet’s Monday Opener is a week’s opening takes on technology written by members of our editorial team.
