By M K George

Rome, May 1, 2023: Four months ago, a fellow Jesuit introduced me to ChatGPT. I was amazed. Immediately, I used it to get an outline for a lecture I had to give soon after. Quick, to the point and absolutely logical and convincing, I felt ChatGPT is going to be a boon.

Reviewing current literature on ChatGPT (generative pre-trained transformer), I realize there are already contrary opinions. As on April 12, six countries – Russia, China, North Korea, Cuba, Syria, Iran and Italy — have banned ChatGPT

Let us look, from a layperson’s point of view of course, what are the promises and threats of ChatGPT.

What is ChatGPT?

“ChatGPT is a natural language processing tool driven by AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology that allows you to have human-like conversations and much more with the Chabot. The language model can answer questions and assist you with tasks, such as composing emails, essays, and code,” says Sabrina Ortiz.

Artificial intelligence (AI) research company OpenAI released it in November 2022, and since then it has captured the imagination of all.

The versatility of the application is just unbelievable.

The AI-powered Chabot could revolutionize everything from customer service to how we search online. It can code computer programs, compose music, draft emails, summarize articles, podcasts or presentations, script social media posts, create a title for an article, solve math problems, discover keywords for search engine optimization, write articles, blog posts and quizzes for websites, reword existing content for a different medium, such as a presentation transcript for a blog post, formulate product descriptions, play games , assist with job searches, including writing resumes and cover letters, describe complex topics more simply and many others.

Farhad Manjoo, a journalist with New York Times wrote recently, ‘Already, ChatGPT is changing how I do my job.’ So do attest many other professionals.

What are the concerns?

The countries that have already banned ChatGPT are responding to assumed threats of various types. ‘Some of these countries banned the application based on privacy concerns, while others , particularly North Korea, China and Russia, claimed that the US would use ChatGPT to spread misinformation’. (John Martindale April 12, 2023)

‘People are expressing concerns about AI Chatbots replacing or atrophying human intelligence. For example, the Chabot can write an article on any topic efficiently (though not necessarily accurately) within seconds, potentially eliminating the need for a human writer,’ says Ortiz. On the shadow side, ChatGPT can be incorrect and even nonsensical.

Other concerns include the fear that humans might lose jobs. ‘Technological advancements have always resulted in jobs being lost, but the speed of AI advancements means there are multiple industries facing the same problem. From education to illustration to customer service roles, ChatGPT, and its underlying technology is going to drastically reshape our modern world’, wrote Garling Wu.

The fears that it will influence the quality of education are equally worrying. In a world where the quality of education for the masses is losing quality, this is no good news at all.

The direct impact of this technology on social life is the threat of using it to spread hate speech and polemics all around. Fake news can spread faster and more efficiently with the AI aided Chatbots. In the area of Human Rights, the threats are equally real:

“It’s possible to propagate discrimination through the use of a chatbot if it’s configured to employ language that’s biased against particular groups. The right to equality requires that the chatbot be built with vocabulary that is both inclusive and non-discriminatory,” warns Jyotirmoy Banerjee.

The power that AI holds is really a possibility and a threat. With high moral sensibilities, it is powerful. In the hands of dictators, who are all around unfortunately, this tool is a threat to humanity.

It can create ethical problems. While praising the benefits of technology and artificial intelligence, Pope Francis says that AI raised serious questions and must be used ethically and responsibly to promote human dignity and the common good. (Deborah Castellano Lubov, March 27 2023).

The Pope said, “I would therefore encourage you, in your deliberations, to make the intrinsic dignity of every man and woman the key criterion in evaluating emerging technologies; these will prove ethically sound to the extent that they help respect that dignity and increase its expression at every level of human life.”

Whether you like it or not, ChatGPT is in the headlines every day. Your familiarity, competence and expertise to deal with it is going to be crucial not just for yourself but for the whole humanity. In a perceptive essay titled, ‘We don’t know what will happen next’, Jerome Roos wrote, ‘ The solutions we pursue today – on global peace, the clean energy transition and the regulation of A.I. – will one day come to form the basis of a new world order.’

Artificial intelligence isn’t something you should be scared of. However, you must be skilled enough not to be replaced by AI.