Artificial intelligence (AI): An immediate challenge flagged by ChatGPT
06, Feb 2023
Prelims level : Science & Technology
Mains level : GS-III Science & Technology - Awareness in the fields of it, Space, Computers, Robotics, Nano-Technology, Bio-Technology, Pharma Sector & Health Science
Why in News?
- With the launch of Open AI’s ChatGPT late last year, the impending changes in the nature of work, creativity and economy as a whole have moved from being the subject of futuristic jargon to an immediate challenge.
- Since at least 2015 when Klaus Schwab popularised the term Fourth Industrial Revolution at that year’s World Economic Forum terms like 4IR, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things, Future of Work, entered the lexicon of politicians, bureaucrats, consultants and policy analysts.
Sample developments over just the last few days
- A judge in Colombia included his conversations with ChatGPT in a ruling;
- Microsoft is integrating the bot with its search engine, Bing, and other products;
- Google is reportedly trying to launch a similar tool and there are reports that ChatGPT can already code at entry level for Google engineers.
What are the Concerns?
- Lifestyle may become redundant: Concerns about plagiarism in universities and beyond, as well as the fear that many white-collar jobs may become redundant in the coming years, as AI becomes more ubiquitous and sophisticated.
- Implications on labour, education and authenticity: The AI revolution is likely to have serious implications on labour, education, authenticity of content and its authorship, and much else.
- Case of Social media’s influence in US elections: The concerns around social media’s influence on politics and society became sharp in the aftermath of the 2016 US presidential elections and accusations of voter manipulation by foreign agents. Much of the world is still struggling with the questions raised then.
Do you what exactly ChatGPT is?
- Simple definition: ChatGPT is a chatbot built on a large-scale transformer-based language model that is trained on a diverse dataset of text and is capable of generating human-like responses to prompts.
- A human like language model: It is based on GPT-3.5, a language model that uses deep learning to produce human-like text.
- It is more engaging with details: However, while the older GPT-3 model only took text prompts and tried to continue on that with its own generated text, ChatGPT is more engaging. It’s much better at generating detailed text and can even come up with poems.
- Keeps the memory of the conversations: Another unique characteristic is memory. The bot can remember earlier comments in a conversation and recount them to the user.
- Human- like resemblance: A conversation with ChatGPT is like talking to a computer, a smart one, which appears to have some semblance of human-like intelligence.
Anticipating possible futures requires engagement with the opportunities:
- The Struggle to keep up with technology in policymaking:
- Governments worldwide face a challenge in creating policies that keep up with the rapid pace of technological advancement.
- Policymakers should understand that they must work to bridge the gap between technology and regulation, as a growing divide could lead to problems.
- Preparing for technological change in education and workforce:
- In addition to creating regulations that support innovation, it’s crucial to plan for the changes that new technology will bring to education and employment.
- This includes anticipating new job types and skills required, as well as updating the education system to prepare future workers.
- Importance of Preparing for technological change for India:
- India has been facing the challenge of balancing privacy and regulation in the handling of data for several years.
- Successfully adapting to technological changes is crucial for India to make the most of its large, young workforce. If not addressed in time, the consequences could be severe
Conclusion:
- The transformations the new technology is bound to bring about must be met with swift adjustments in the broader national and international legal and policy architecture. The lag between technology innovation and policy that was seen with the rise of Big Data and social media can serve as a lesson.