a December tweet<\/a> that ChatGPT is \u201cnot yet ready to be relied on for anything important.\u201d Still, this technology can already do all sorts of things that companies currently need humans to do. Even if this tech doesn\u2019t take over your entire job, it might very well change it. <\/p>\nTake journalism: ChatGPT can already write a pretty compelling blog post. No, the post might not be particularly accurate \u2014 which is why there\u2019s concern that ChatGPT could be quickly exploited to produce fake news \u2014 but it can certainly get the ball rolling, coming up with basic ideas for an article and even drafting letters to sources. The same bot can also earn a good score on a college-level coding exam, and it\u2019s not bad at writing about legal concepts, either. A photo editor at New York magazine pointed out that while DALL-E doesn\u2019t quite understand how to make illustrations dealing with complex political or conceptual concepts, it can be helpful when given repeated prodding and explicit instructions.<\/p>\n
While there are limits on what ChatGPT could be used for, even automating just a few tasks in someone\u2019s workflow, like writing basic code or copy editing, could radically change a person\u2019s workday and reduce the total number of workers needed in a given field. As an example, Conitzer, the computer science professor, pointed to the impact of services like Google Flights on travel agencies.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnline travel sites, even today, do not offer the full services of a human travel agent, which is why human travel agents are still around, in larger numbers than many people expect,\u201d he told Recode. \u201cThat said, clearly their numbers have gone down significantly because the alternative process of just booking flights and a place to stay yourself online \u2014 a process that didn\u2019t exist some decades ago \u2014 is a fine alternative in many cases.\u201d <\/p>\n
Should I be worried?<\/h3>\n
Generative AI is going mainstream rapidly, and companies aim to sell this technology as soon as possible. At the same time, the regulators who might try to rein in this tech, if they find a compelling reason, are still learning how it works. <\/p>\n
The stakes are high. Like other breakthrough technologies \u2014 things like the computer and the smartphone, but also earlier inventions, like the air conditioner and the car \u2014 generative AI could change much of how our world operates. And like other revolutionary tech, the arrival of this kind of AI will create complicated trade-offs. Air conditioners, for example, have made some of the hottest days of the year more bearable, but they\u2019re also exacerbating the world\u2019s climate change problem. Cars made it possible to travel extremely long distances without the need for a train or horse-drawn carriage, but motor vehicle crashes now kill tens of thousands of people, at least in the United States, <\/strong>every year. <\/p>\nIn the same way, decisions we make about AI now could have ripple effects. Legal cases about who deserves the profit and credit \u2014 but also the liability \u2014 for work created by AI are being decided now, but could shape who profits from this technology for years to come. Schools and teachers will determine whether to incorporate AI into their curriculums, or discard it as a form of cheating, inevitably influencing how kids will relate to these technologies in their professional lives. The rapid expansion of AI image generators could center Eurocentric art forms at the expense of other artistic traditions, which are already underrepresented by the technology.<\/p>\n
If and when this AI goes fully mainstream, it could be incredibly difficult to unravel. In this way, the biggest threat of this technology may be that it stands to change the world before we\u2019ve had a chance to truly understand it.<\/p>\n
This story was first published in the Recode newsletter. <\/em>Sign up here<\/em> so you don\u2019t miss the next one!<\/em><\/p>\n\n
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