If there’s one technology today that has been seeing exponential growth in user base, it would be the popular chatbot and virtual assistant, ChatGPT from OpenAI. According to ExpressVPN, AI is not just replacing jobs but also creating new opportunities in AI development, machine learning, and data science, emphasizing that there is a huge demand for AI adoption globally. And the numbers don’t lie: Statista notes that ChatGPT still ranks first in the United States for using AI tools, accounting for 20.9% of those using it.
However, with the heightened usage of AI tools like ChatGPT being feared to replace human jobs, the question is: Is this a blessing or a curse for our modern society? To answer this, we explore the rise of ChatGPT, how it is helping various industries, and how you can protect your privacy while using these tools.
The Rise of ChatGPT–And Its Exponential Impact
The first instance of having a technology like this was in 2018 when OpenAI introduced GPT-1 internally, marking the dawn of the Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) series. This was then followed by GPT-2 (2019), GPT-3 (2020), the image generator DALL-E (2021), ChatGPT 3.5 (2022), GPT-4 (March 2023), and GPT-4 Turbo (November 2023).
This year, OpenAI introduced its video generator technology in February, followed by the advanced version of ChatGPT called ‘GPT-4o’. This version excels in non-English text processing and understanding vision and audio, setting a new benchmark for AI models.
With the introduction of these tools, ChatGPT’s impact has been felt in many professional domains. The Large Language Model (LLM) has transformed traditional workflows in various industries through its ability to automate repetitive operations, aid in content production, and offer fast access to information.
In addition, ChatGPT helps customer service agents by responding to essential questions quickly and helping them create better responses. By providing immediate homework help, research support, and interactive learning resources, ChatGPT makes learning more approachable and exciting in education.
Regarding entertainment and writing, ChatGPT allows users to create content, generate ideas, and write anything from poems to essays. Professionals from various industries use its features to automate chores like coding and drafting emails. ChatGPT is even being used in the entertainment sector, where it is being used to write dialogue, construct game and movie plots, and produce more engaging gaming experiences.
The most significant impact of ChatGPT is related to increased cost-effectiveness by automating processes like coding, content generation, and customer support queries that have historically required human participation. Automation boosts productivity and lowers labor costs. Its quick generation of text that resembles that of a human being increases productivity, and organizations can save money by integrating ChatGPT through APIs, which improves services and streamlines procedures without requiring a lot of human resources.
Anxious With ChatGPT? Here’s What to Do
While ChatGPT is doing many wonderful things globally, the discussion is complete by noting the negative impact AI tools like ChatGPT have had in our modern society and their limitations in their current state.
With the primary one being overreliance on this technology, it is feared that companies would eliminate human customer support in favor of AI-powered chatbots. Another issue that arises from that is that ChatGPT–and other subsequent AI models–is built on limited data and can be biased. Moreover, with limited datasets, ChatGPT can also not understand particular contexts based on culture or gender.
However, the biggest and most personal issue with ChatGPT relates to the term’ AI anxiety’, which refers to the feelings of worry, discomfort, and fear that individuals have regarding artificial intelligence and its impact on society, jobs, and privacy.
While the World Economic Forum estimates that AI could replace approximately 85 million jobs by 2025 and automation could account for 65% of retail positions, it is worth noting that AI’s impact isn’t just about replacing jobs but also changing them. AI can handle basic and repetitive tasks, like data entry and straightforward customer service inquiries. With that in mind, humans can focus more on tasks that require deeper context and creativity that best serve humanity, ensuring job security in a changing landscape.
In addition to those concerns, privacy is another issue with ChatGPT. It uses all of your interactions in the software as a learning tool for its database to further improve future generative AI responses. As such, it evokes a feeling of invading the privacy of its users and poses ethical concerns about using personal information for GenAI tools.
When using ChatGPT or any related software, don’t divulge private or sensitive information about yourself, such as your residence, phone number, place of employment, or financials. If you use a platform that incorporates ChatGPT, your data may be accessible to third parties. Giving such information away puts you in danger of financial fraud, identity theft, and other online crimes.
You can also prevent ChatGPT from using your data for model training while keeping your conversation history intact—a feature also referred to as incognito mode—to maintain control over the information you give with it. This guarantees that your conversations with ChatGPT won’t influence the development of new models in the future. On top of that, you can also delete your chats with ChatGPT and toggle memory off whenever using ChatGPT.
ChatGPT has had a significant influence, providing unprecedented ease and support in several areas, including education, customer support, and individual productivity. Due to its capacity to provide human-like responses and insightful information has become an important tool in the digital age. But with all this power comes the urgent requirement for strong internet security measures.
Trust and integrity in ChatGPT interactions depend on protecting user privacy, stopping misinformation, and guarding against malicious use. By setting internet safety as a top priority, you can ensure that, as we continue to utilise AI’s capabilities, it will continue to be a safe and valuable tool for all users, empowering you to take control of your online activities.
