A GENERATED FUTURE

New AI platform ChatGPT may revolutionize

Article by Ava Savino

“Greetings earthlings! I am ChatGPT, the AI language model with a twist. I’m here to blow your mind with my ability to generate human-like text with ease. Whether you’re looking for a witty conversation or need some information, I’m your AI. So let’s explore the wonders of the universe, or just have a chat - the choice is yours! Ready to have some fun?”

- Generated by ChatGPT

What is ChatGPT?

Founded by various prominent technology figures such as billionaire Elon Musk and entrepreneur Sam Altman, tech company OpenAI aims to make programming easier for professionals and more accessible to people who want to learn how to code. ChatGPT, also known as Chat Generative Predictive Text, is their most recent project; an AI model released into a freely accessible beta version in November of 2022.

When someone inputs a question into the program, it seems to “understand” and respond in a human-like way, pulling information and sources from the internet According to OpenAI, the program was trained using a method called Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF), a model trained specifically to “satisfy” the user’s request by using predictive algorithms and learning, a process more similar to puppy training than machine. In contrast, non-RLHF models will have a more “code-like” response that feels like it is generated from a computer.

What can ChatGPT do?

With adaptive learning and human-like outputs, ChatGPT can do almost anything it is asked. For example, the program can not only explain almost any topic, but also change how it presents this information. Chief Technology Officer Alex Podchaski said that while he was researching possibilities for the program, he discovered its ability to explain complex topics at the level of a 6th grade student all the way through to 12th.

The program can also provide a wide variety of tasks that are not explanatory in nature, such as giving advice for social situations or finishing tedious writing tasks.

“Long ago, I had a background in corporate writing, and I remember writing dreadfully boring pieces for say the annual report for a corporation,” English department chair Susan Lilley said. “But to be able to have those numbers and have a machine that writes the report…I think that is an advantage in the industry.”

However, the program so far has been found to have many inaccuracies in its responses, sometimes making up outright false information. When Podchaski tested the program’s ability to write a biography about himself, he discovered that the program relayed information he had never heard of before.

“It told me that I was born in Poland and that I immigrated at some point before my birth,” Podchaski said. “You don’t know what [ChatGPT] is pulling, and it’s not capable of giving you sources.”

Some teachers are using these flaws to their advantage–in computer science teacher Susan Frederick’s programming classes, students utilized the AI to create different bugs that would then be fixed by the students.