In a recent article published in Nature, researchers discuss ChatGPT, the large language model chatbot that has taken the world by storm. The article delves into the various ways people are using ChatGPT, the potential benefits and drawbacks of this technology, and the ethical considerations that arise from its use.
One of the most striking aspects of ChatGPT is its versatility. People are using it for a variety of purposes, including:
- Creative writing: Creative text formats, like poems, code, scripts, musical pieces, email, letters, etc. are all readily created. This has opened up new avenues for artistic expression and exploration.
- Research and information access: Another pervasive us is to summarize research papers or answer questions in a comprehensive and informative way. This can be a valuable tool for students, researchers, and anyone seeking to learn more about a particular topic.
- Personal communication: Some people are even using ChatGPT to have conversations with friends and family. While this may seem like a novelty at first, it raises interesting questions about the nature of human interaction and the potential for AI to form meaningful connections.
However, the article also highlights some of the potential drawbacks of the platform. One concern is the issue of bias. Any large language model is trained on a massive dataset of text and code. This corpus may contain biases that are then reflected in the model’s outputs. For example, if ChatGPT is trained on data that is predominantly male-authored, it may generate text that is more likely to reflect male perspectives or stereotypes.
Another concern is the lack of transparency in how ChatGPT works. The inner workings of the model are complex and not fully understood, even by the researchers who created it. This lack of transparency makes it difficult to assess the reliability of the information that ChatGPT generates and raises questions about accountability.
Here are some examples of how people are using this technology in their real world work environments:
Ethan Mollick: Integrating AI in Teaching
Ethan Mollick incorporates AI into his educational settings, and predicts that AI will become a pervasive part of teaching and learning. He anticipates that AI will assist in various educational aspects but also cautions against potential challenges like AI-powered cheating.
Marzyeh Ghassemi: Enhancing Communication in Healthcare
Marzyeh Ghassemi uses ChatGPT to re-frame scientific content for different audiences, making complex research more accessible. However, she cautions against generative AI’s tendency to produce biased or inaccurate content, especially in healthcare applications. Ghassemi highlights the need for responsible deployment of these tools to avoid entrenching societal biases and inequalities.
Mushtaq Bilal: AI for Structural Guidance
Mushtaq Bilal discusses using LLM’s in academia, particularly for structuring rather than full content generation. He notes that while language models can be a useful brainstorming partner and assist in outlining research papers, it’s not suited for generating original research content. Especially as it is well known that these systems can create “hallucinations” of fact; that are in fact not true.
Here are some additional takeaways from the article:
- ChatGPT is still under development, and its capabilities are constantly evolving.
- It is important to use ChatGPT critically and to be aware of its potential biases.
- We need to have open and informed conversations about the ethical implications of using large language models.
I encourage you to read the original article for a more in-depth discussion of ChatGPT and its implications and additional interviews with users.
Original Article can be found here: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03798-6