A brief history of ChatGPT

A year on, ChatGPT stands as a powerful digital tool to revolutionise how we interact with computers. We explore the brief history of the generative artificial intelligence (AI) platform, reflect on its origins and its power to disrupt and transform operations.

 

 

Where did ChatGPT come from?

 

Founded in 2015, OpenAI is a meeting of the minds between tech titans Sam Altman, Peter Theil, and Elon Musk, among others. From there, the non-profit organisation garnered pledges of nearly $1 billion (approximately £800 million) for researching natural language processing and generative technologies.

 

Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3 (GPT-3) launched in 2020. This third-generation of natural language processing took huge amounts of data and was able to narrow down, more precisely, the likely text output of a given task. In simple terms, if asked a question, GPT-3 could spit back a relevant answer.

 

In November 2022, ChatGPT launched. Using the same underlying tech, this new version focused on the conversation piece.

 

When asked about its own evolution, ChatGPT says: “OpenAI recognised the potential of leveraging the immense language understanding capabilities of GPT-3 to create an interactive and dynamic conversational AI system. The model was fine-tuned and optimised to better engage in sustained dialogues, leading to the birth of ChatGPT.”

 

 

How ChatGPT disrupts and transforms

 

ChatGPT and its predecessors are impactful because they can seem like living people. On the practical applications, chatbots and technical help are some of the most common ways that the generative AI proves its worth.

 

Online beneficiary facing services may be automated by ChatGPT-like technology. As an example, chatbots that help guests navigate the online website for information saves on staff time. Getting more complex in nature, the tech can also help with software programming and educational requirements.

 

Deployed at large, the generative technology can digest and draw conclusions. Forbes Magazine outlines a cure for one potential headache – taxation: “ChatGPT can help charities provide clear, concise information on tax deductions, credits, and other benefits related to charitable giving.”

 

From this perspective, donors get the advice they need and charities save on legal and consultancy fees.

 

 

How to use specific tasks for ChatGPT

 

For charity operations, there are efficiencies to capitalise on and drawbacks. Customisation and large data sweeping are where there’s the potential. Here are some examples of use.

 

 

Personalisation and communications

 

ChatGPT’s power in conversation complements charity efforts in personalised marketing. In our earlier piece, we noted: “ChatGPT can help organisations to improve donor engagement by creating a conversational interface for users to interact with.”

 

 

Content creation

 

Drafting fresh news pieces or articles is easier with ChatGPT’s access to data and language expertise. DonorBox says: “ChatGPT is capable of writing long-form content, such as blogs or landing pages, as well as short-form content found in social media posts and digital ads.” Use the interface to ask a question or summarise a topic, then use outputs as a first draft.

 

 

Technical advice

 

Understanding legal, financial, or coding implications is much easier with ChatGPT. The AI can mine vast amounts of policy and theory to formulate what might be the best decision. For coders, using AI to detect errors or to aggregate additional lines of programming saves time.

 

 

CRM mining

 

For large charities, mining CRM databases reveals trends that might go unnoticed. ChatGPT may find that donors actually donate more when certain touch points are completed.

 

 

Recruitment and vetting

 

Sifting through CVs for suitable candidates is time consuming and, tedious at best. Why not use ChatGPT to do the first filter? Customise the generative AI to look for keywords or specific backgrounds. Or ask ChatGPT to draft the job specification. The benefit here is that ChatGPT can help build an inclusive workforce by tailoring the search and advert to neutral language.              

 

 

Training and education

 

Use ChatGPT to provide new recruits with dynamic materials and Q&A. Charities can save time by automating learning with AI and a learning management system.

 

 

The drawbacks of ChatGPT

 

There may be drawbacks in deploying ChatGPT and its associated technologies. These, while not limited to charities, are significant. There are ethical issues surrounding the use of ChatGPT. The information it pulls together to formulate a response should be taken with a grain of scepticism. The AI doesn’t do any fact-checking, so prepare to edit and check what’s written. Fake news is a concept of which audiences are aware, so don’t get caught out.

 

Many charities will also be wary of AI replacing jobs. While disruption, transformation, and innovation sometimes lead to an upskilling in roles, ChatGPT still needs human intervention. Asking it the right questions and synthesising the materials takes thought and effort – something it can’t quite get right.