If you’ve got a tech-savvy teenager, a busy marketer, or an IT guru in your life, you’ve probably heard about ChatGPT by now.
If you haven’t, then it’s time to find out more.
The future of writing is here. Well, it arrived in November 2022 with the release of the OpenAI platform known as ChatGPT.
ChatGPT stands for Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer. In simple terms, it’s a chatbot, but far more sophisticated than anything ever seen.
ChatGPT’s core function is to mimic human conversation, however, it quickly became known as a platform for taking simple instructions to complete complicated, yet artificially generated text and dialogue.
For example, a news writer could quite simply input instructions to the free platform like ‘write me a 500-word article explaining what ChatGPT does and should businesses be using it’, and within seconds, you can expect a fluently written piece of copy, relatively undetectable as machine-generated.
Users have found it can also write advanced web and computer code, compose lyrics, create poetry, answer test questions and scribe student essays.
Busy business owners have quickly adopted the platform as an easy place to draft basic correspondence and marketing copy. As it remembers previous instructions, the program learns to create text reflective of the writing style of the user.
But what’s the catch? Normally when something is so good and so easy, there’s a catch, a cost and a possible barrier to using you should be wary of.
Well… so far, all signs point to there being no catch.
Is there a cost? Currently, ChatGPT is a free platform. The developers are currently teasing the idea of a paid ‘pro’ version, but at this stage, the platform is free to use.
Is there a catch? From time to time, internet software can be a place for cyber attackers to implant harmful code into your computer, causing viruses and cybercrime. At this stage, there have been limited reports of related incidents as a result of its use, but you should always keep the 8 tips to avert a cyber-attack close by.
Is it plagiarism? That’s a more difficult one to answer. According to a recent article in The Guardian, South Australia’s three main universities have updated their policies to allow the of the platform, so long as it is disclosed.
The OpenAI platform takes pieces of content from around the internet to compile its dialogue. This risks excerpts of non-referenced information putting you at risk of plagiarism so its use in formal or widely published forums should be taken with caution.
Should you input sensitive information? Probably not. According to the FAQs listed on ChatGPT, the platform’s team of moderators does review conversations to improve their systems and to ensure the content complies with their policies and safety requirements. Your data is anonymised, however, if it is intended for your eyes only, then we suggest it stays that way.
Businesses should carefully consider whether or not ChatGPT is an appropriate tool for drafting any communication with employees regarding industrial relations due to the risk of unintended discrimination or harassment. Overlooking oversights as a result of AI-generated copy could lead to a misuse of words resulting in problems down the track.
This is just the beginning of a new world of technological advancements in AI skyrocketing into the mainstream, just this week, Google announced they are officially working on their own version, known as Bard… so keep an eye out, you can expect much more to come from this in the future.
