ChatGPT

For anyone who hasn't yet made it past the headlines to read an article or watch a video about ChatGPT, it's probably time to start taking notice. It's not very often a technology with so much potential ubiquity and consequence comes around. In many ways artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other flavors of advanced analytics have already had a profound influence on our daily lives, but much of that is invisible or running in the background of the content and ads we see, applications we use, and tools we employ. ChatGPT turns all of that on its head by being as approachable and conversational as any search or chat box.

To paint a general picture of what ChatGPT is about, think of it as the offspring of IBM's Watson and Apple's Siri – and 2023 is the gender reveal party.

Unlike Watson, however, which requires an army of experts and liaisons to help an organization merely understand how the tool can be applied to its most complex computational query, challenge, or problem, ChatGPT will serve as another evolution of current search technology. Potential applications are limitless, and the knowledge graph they're pulling from is so vast that results may feel downright creative. It's not surprising many people seem to harbor some concern that this technology (and that of its competitors) may become universally disruptive by making so many tasks, roles, and ultimately jobs, obsolete.

Microsoft has just invested $10B in to ChatGPT's parent company, OpenAI, giving it a valuation of $29B. The initial release of the ChatGPT concept gained 1M trial users in the first week and is now currently closed as the company prepares to release its next version, GPT-4. A pro version of the technology with additional perks and $42/month cost is going live now.

It's easy to imagine that, just like learning to write cursive back in the day, generations of brains will be hardwired in a similar fashion. Now, the use of search – or whatever search becomes with the addition of this technology – will be a modern example of writing longhand, so fundamental that everyone does it and no one thinks twice. Whereas search provides you with a series of results, both organic and paid, and requires the user to sift through to find and click the most relevant link, ChatGPT can cut straight to the chase and provide a concise result based on what it "thinks" you may be looking for or trying to do.

Instead of simply entering a single word, name, title, etc. or short combination of words, you can provide ChatGPT with actual instructions, which it will process appropriately (to an extent, at least). Sure, it can provide one-word answers, but it can also elaborate or write an article or even actual code. Its uses will really be left up to the imagination. And when you run out of ideas, you can simply ask it for more.

For those of you who have used it or contemplated ways you intend to (beyond you students cheating on your essays!), please share your thoughts.