By Amy Saad
The public has brought mass awareness to the rise of AI technology, namely the AI language model Chat GPT. According to an analysis conducted by Swiss bank UBS, Chat GPT is the fastest-growing app of all time. The question is: should we fear the rise of AI or embrace it?
I asked this very question to Chat GPT out of curiosity, and it responded, “As an AI language model, ChatGPT is a tool that can be used for both positive and negative purposes. It is important to recognize that while it has the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with technology and each other, it also has limitations and ethical considerations. Ultimately, whether we fear or embrace ChatGPT depends on how it is developed, deployed, and used. It is up to us as a society to ensure that AI technologies like ChatGPT are developed and used in ways that align with our values and promote the greater good.”
I found this response quite impressive for an AI technology that refuses to show any opinion, the generated response is cautionary and redirects the question back onto us. So rather, we should fear the people exploiting Chat GPT and purposely spreading “inaccurate or even dangerous” information (James Owen). Although, researchers have also started fearing the ability of Chat GPT in being able to generate lines of code. Though this is highly remarkable and could revolutionise forms of software and other technology, it can easily be exploited for more sinister purposes. Experts in cyber-safety have found that Chat GPT’s ability to write code can “provide individuals who have little or no coding ability…to create or finetune malware” making it more invasive and damaging to its victims. For now, though, ChatGPT does have safeguarding features to prevent this from occurring- when asked to generate code for a ransomware program, Chat GPT replied, “my purpose is to provide information and assist users…not to promote harmful activities”.
However, as potential users of Chat GPT and other AI technologies, we must also consider the benefits that come from having a new tool available to us. Allowing people to have “human-like conversations” to “answer questions” (Sabrina Ortiz), Chat GPT is great for learning basic information in a way that is suited to individuals, giving ideas for areas to complete further research or even writing song lyrics depending on what questions you ask.
Ultimately, this both scary and exciting technology will certainly be part of our future. Therefore, it is important that people are informed about the potential benefits and downsides of AI technology. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how institutions react to the rise of this technology, will they adapt to it, or block it out completely? While the future surrounding AI is murky, Chat GPT promises updates in information, accuracy, and safety. So maybe we should embrace the tools it offers for now.
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