What’s the fuss about over ChatGPT?

“Is that new chatbot going to write all your content?” is a question confronting writers more now than ever. Despite artificial intelligence (AI) being on the scene since at least the 1950s, nothing has arisen quite like ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer).

 

The platform appears like a live chat, with ChatGPT responding to questions over a conversation. When asked what it is, the bot spits out: “ChatGPT is a powerful tool for conversational AI that offers a high level of performance and ease of use. With its ability to generate human-like responses and handle a wide range of conversational use cases, it has the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with machines.”

 

That is certainly a lot to unpack. For charities, it seems perhaps a little farfetched, but the technology may be revolutionary. Here’s why.

 

 

The latest advances in programming

 

There’s a familiarity between charities and chatbots. The sector is using chatbots to respond to site queries and to engage audiences. Perhaps the most well-known are Yeshi, Sellu, Oriel, and Ally. Yeshi and Sellu help charities tell immersive stories by mimicking beneficiaries and interacting with audiences. Oriel and Ally are virtual assistants and are the first port-of-call.

 

ChatGPT represents advances in programming and tech. Whereas the aforementioned chatbots are static, the conversationalist ChatGPT evolves as it has more interactions. That means ChatGPT uses real feedback from humans to gauge its responses.

 

Medium says: “ChatGPT was also trained with human feedback (a technique called Reinforcement Learning with Human Feedback) so that the AI ​​learned what people expected when they asked a question.”

 

Ultimately the difference lies in perception. Older bots have a pre-determined script. ChatGPT responses are more human.

 

 

What can it do?

 

The difference between the older generation of chatbots and ChatGPT is what it can actually do. ChatGPT produces volumes of text content. Asking the chatbot to generate online media is no problem. Users can simply ask a question, cut the text, and post. The answer to a complex question shows how powerful it can be.

 

When asked to give a brief history of British charities, the response is, frankly, incredible: “Charitable organisations have existed in Britain for centuries, with some of the oldest and most well-known ones dating back to the medieval period. These early charities were often established by religious institutions, such as monasteries and churches, to provide assistance to the poor and needy…” The response goes on.

 

Authors need no additional brief here. Producing an article is short work, when half the content is already written. There’re no limits to how ChatGPT could be used – to customise letters, write essays, or to draft articles.

 

 

ChatGPT even covers coding

 

There are programmers who might use ChatGPT to debug code, or, for nefarious purposes.

 

Since chatbot’s originators and owners OpenAI don’t control the inputs of the system, it’s difficult to control the outputs. CheckPoint Research highlights not only the pros, but the darker side of how to use it.

 

They note that not only does the platform help debug useful code, it can also assist hackers in developing malware. CheckPoint found on a hacking forum that: “The publisher of the thread disclosed that he was experimenting with ChatGPT to recreate malware strains and techniques described in research publications and write-ups about common malware.”

 

Unleashing ChatGPT doesn’t come without risks. It’s not unforeseeable that there will be those want to use the tool for malicious intents.

 

 

There’s more controversy

 

With most conversations around AI, there’s always the follow-up that the robots will eventually take jobs away from humans.

 

Testing that theory with ChatGPT is something to consider.

 

As for the chatbot taking over jobs, it’s already been producing articles. Published by Heart of Bucks Community Foundation, the blog post entitled, “The pitfalls for the UK charity sector of expanding AI usage,” weighs the downside.

 

They note that AI can produce further job losses, increase security risks, and increase job discrimination. The kicker is at the end of the article – the entire piece is written by ChatGPT.

 

A disadvantage of the new chatbot is its quality assurance. Since it learns by inputs and by interactions, there’s no fact-checking. That’s in contrast to a human author who typically does search for the right references. For charities to continue to produce honest, authentic content, telling the truth is top of mind.

 

Evaluating the benefits, this new technology could have wider ramifications for the charity sector. ChatGPT could change how charities train staff by eliminating the need for live sessions. It could also improve how people access information – how audiences probe charities for data, statistics, and explanations.

 

Ultimately, while ChatGPT is a giant leap forward, it doesn’t replace the human element. Someone still needs to interact with it to gain an output, leaving much room for creativity.