On AI Disruption, ChatGPT and more
As ChatGBT and other AI platforms attract attention, the following comments are worth considering.
From Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO:
"Microsoft is opening up access to new AI tools like ChatGPT … I see these technologies acting as a co-pilot, helping people do more with less.
"ChatGPT is coming soon to the Azure OpenAI Service ... as we help customers apply the world’s most advanced AI models to their own business imperatives.”
From Jeff Maggioncalda, Coursera CEO, an on-line teaching platform:
“Any part of education where the assessment of what you know is based on writing a response is going to be changed immediately, If you are not a great writer but you have good thoughts, [ChatGPT] will help you put your good thoughts into clear writing.
“I use it as a writing assistant and as a thought partner.”
From Erik Brynjolfsson, Stanford University professor of economics and information technology:
"ChatbotGPT will get rid of a lot of routine, rote type of work and at the same time people using it may be able to do more creative work.
“The hype around this technology is legit … If we do it right, the next ten years will be some of the most interesting writing that we’ve ever seen."
From the blog post “CNET Is Experimenting With an AI Assist. Here's Why”:
“In November, our CNET Money editorial team started trying out the [ChatGPT] tech to see if there's a pragmatic use case for an AI assist on basic explainers around financial services ... So far we've published about 75 such articles.
“For now CNET is doing what we do best – testing a new technology so we can separate the hype from reality."
From Lily Lin, Google Vice President Global Communiction:
“We have long been focused on developing and deploying AI to improve people’s lives ...
"We continue to test our AI technology internally to make sure it’s helpful and safe, and we look forward to sharing more experiences externally soon."
From Nick Cave, singer/composer, in a blog post:
“ChatGPT may be able to write a speech or an essay or a sermon or an obituary but it cannot create a genuine song. It could perhaps in time create a song that is, on the surface, indistinguishable from an original, but it will always be a replication, a kind of burlesque.
“ChatGPT’s melancholy role is that it is destined to imitate and can never have an authentic human experience, no matter how devalued and inconsequential the human experience may in time become.”
The following are examples of other AI solutions that are entering the market:
Midjourney - "exploring new mediums of thought … to generate images”
Synthesia - “to make video content - without cameras, microphones or studios" using over 85 avatars with more than 120 languages and accents.
DoNotPay - “to help consumers fight against large corporations and solve their problems like beating parking tickets, appealing bank fees, and suing robocallers.”
OUR TAKE
The release of ChatGPT has increased the awareness of AI's potential. Other general purpose solutions will come to market from firms such as Google, as well as specialized services in areas such as finance, law, medicine and science.
ChatGPT’s conversational interface is part of its appeal; but its success is dependent on the quality and accuracy of its responses.
Today's AI services require significant resources to collect data, train models and analyze information. Over time, process improvements should lower these barriers and help expand the market opportunity.
As data is collected and "scrapped" from the Internet, concerns about plagiarism and fair use have increased. Addressing these issues will require engagement with intellectual property and copyright experts, policy makers, business leaders, content creators and more.