Calculator or computer?
Welcome to the weekend.
Here’s three related numbers for you: 3 221, 250 million and 157 billion. Any idea what they could be or the common linkage? If you want to play along, the answers are at the bottom of this note. If you don’t, why not read on anyway?
By way of admission, I recognise I often criticise government in The Weekly, but credit where it’s due, there’s been a couple of stories this week where government is looking to technology to try to deliver services and also keep people on the straight and narrow.
The first is the deployment of software, biometrics and tablet PCs in Driving Licence Testing Centres, to ensure those taking their K53 learner’s test aren’t cheating, or sending someone else in their place. Our correspondent, Sibahle Malinga, got the insight from the Gautrain Management Agency’s CEO. As it transpires, Gautrain, along with the Road Traffic Management Corporation and the Gauteng transport department, are launching a smart testing centre at the Centurion Gautrain station. Other such centres are set to spring up across the province. Thanks to the Natis online platform, you can also renew your vehicle licence disk at the testing centre. Making this service more widely available is great news for the citizen experience journey, but might be another dagger in the back for the Post Office, which probably relies on licence renewals for a good part of its business.
As for the Post Office, the new communications minister said this week he is seeking support from Treasury for private finance and operations partners to help SAPO stay afloat. Can privatisation and competition save it?
And the second story I liked about government adopting tech is Home Affairs, which announced a strategy where no one has to visit a home affairs office in person, ever again, for routine services. A secure online platform, with biometrics being central to access, is envisioned. It’s hoped this, alongside machine learning technology, will help reduce identity fraud. And it’s all set to happen in the next five years. Time will tell.
Anyway, the answers to my numbers quiz. The common factor is OpenAI. Launched on Friday, 11 December 2015, which is apparently 3 221 days ago. Today, its ChatGPT generative AI service counts 250 million weekly users – impressive, given it was launched less than two years ago. To put that userbase into context, it’s equal to Pakistan’s population, the world’s fifth most populous country, or equivalent to 8% of the world’s population.
And the 157 billion? Well, following a funding round this week, where it raised $6.6 billion, OpenAI’s value has been placed at $157 billion.
Not bad, for what The Guardian called a “San Francisco-based startup, responsible for the ChatGPT chatbot”.
When you consider its capabilities, I thought simplifying ChatGPT to a ‘chatbot’ is quite derogatory. So I asked ChatGPT itself if it ‘thought’ that was a bit mean. Initially it said it was fair, but then, after asking for my thoughts on the term, it said the term chatbot “captures the general concept of a machine-driven conversation, it doesn’t quite capture the depth or flexibility I aim for. It’s kind of like comparing a pocket calculator to a full-fledged computer - related, but very different in capabilities!”
Anyway, have a great weekend. Until next time…
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