ChatGPT now has a voice, can listen to us, and is free for everyone

"Attention! OpenAI has made three significant announcements in recent hours. First, Sam Altman is reinstated as CEO, the board of directors is renewed, and the eagerly awaited news: ChatGPT now has voice capabilities and can listen to us. This marks a radical innovation and an exponential leap in how we will interact with our devices, revolutionizing many aspects of life. Let's look at some of the most important implications.

This development, announced a few months ago but not yet launched globally and for free, is just one of many breakthroughs from OpenAI, the creator of the most advanced artificial intelligence to date. But what does it mean that ChatGPT can now listen to us and respond in such a natural language that we might forget we're interacting with a machine?

The integration of voice into ChatGPT and similar technologies opens up new possibilities for more natural and efficient human-machine interactions, undoubtedly bringing transformative impacts in business, leisure, and everyday life. These advances could change not only how we interact with machines but also our conception of technology in our daily and professional lives.

Undoubtedly, I believe this will be a significant leap in technology to eliminate the need for touchscreens. Everything we need to activate by touch can be done through our voice. For example, Amazon's Alexa, soon to be released, has already demonstrated this natural machine/human interaction.

It's fascinating to see how this technology will have significant implications in business, leisure, and education:

Customer Service: This sector stands to benefit greatly. Repetitive tasks in call centers, where little creativity or problem-solving is needed, can now be replaced. Automated systems with voice capabilities can handle customer queries more efficiently and naturally, improving customer experience and reducing the workload of human staff with more accurate information, without fatigue, mood changes, and always ready to keep asking.

Education: In education, this technology can be used to create virtual assistants that aid in learning, offering personalized explanations and responding to student inquiries in real time. For example, I have set up my own chatbot specialized in English. Now imagine it can listen to me, evaluate my pronunciation, and interact with me as a human. Having an expert available all the time to teach you whatever you want to learn, regardless of the field of knowledge, answering your questions even when you're in bed thinking, imagining, and analyzing responses, without having to sit in front of a computer to type and read.

Health: In healthcare, AI-based voice assistants can assist in patient information collection, offer preliminary health advice or medication reminders, thus improving patient care management and monitoring. This is a leap forward in telemedicine beyond what we have imagined. There are already documented cases where people have found diagnoses through ChatGPT that doctors had not been able to determine."

Accessibility and Inclusion: For people with disabilities, voice technology can be a crucial tool for improving access to information and digital services. It allows easier interaction with technology for those who have difficulties using conventional touch-activated devices. For instance, individuals who are visually impaired but can hear will be able to learn or activate services, potentially enhancing the quality of life for many.

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Entertainment and Media: In the entertainment sector, AI with voice capabilities can be used to create more immersive interactive experiences, such as games, interactive museum guides, or automatic narrations for books or articles.

Home Automation and Personal Assistants: Virtual personal assistants could become more sophisticated and useful, allowing a more natural and fluid interaction in managing household tasks. This includes controlling interconnected smart devices, organizing schedules, or even assisting in cooking tasks – something I use a lot. Every week, I take a photo of what I have in my fridge and ask for recipe suggestions based on the ingredients, or plan meals for the week, saving me time and money.

Industry and Business: In industrial settings, voice AI can be used to assist in tasks such as machinery control, logistics management, or in training and educating employees, providing instructions or information in real-time.

Integration with Social Networks and Communications: This technology could also change how we interact on social networks or during digital communications, enabling new ways to engage with content or improve the accessibility of communications.

Personalization and Data Analytics: The ability to understand and respond to voice requests allows for deeper personalization and a better understanding of user needs and preferences, invaluable for data analytics and data-driven decision-making. Additionally, the capability of generating and recognizing images, then explaining them, is particularly useful. For example, in agriculture: take a photo of a plant with an unknown disease, speak and provide context, and the AI can analyze it, diagnose, and explain what should be done.

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L. Jhoana Lombana

www.jhoanalombana.com