In the last week I have been in more conversations about ChatGPT than any other single topic. Innovation happens in lurches, and this one looks to be a big one.
Yesterday I put up a bit of writing produced by ChatGPT that showed one of its weaknesses. I’m not sure which of the four stages of accepting a new technology I am in. Probably: “poking holes in the new capabilities”.
If you are looking for a general introduction to ChatGPT try:
On the Media Podcast: It’s a Machine’s World
And one on the visual sister app: Dall-E 2 try:
CBS Sunday Morning: Art created by artificial intelligence
This is what I got when I asked Dall-E 2 for: “a dog in the style of LeRoy Neiman”
For the real LeRoy Neiman, here is his website.
Although this technology seems to have been just around the corner forever, it is all the rage now because ChatGPT did such a great job of making it available and usable by the rest of us. Google has been doing this right in front of us for years with Google translate, Google photo search, and autocomplete (the thing that completes your entry in the search box, or finishes your sentence in Gmail).
Despite the long lead in, we are indeed in new territory. In the last week, many people have been using ChatGPT more than Google, and Microsoft is about to invest $10 billion and incorporate the technology into its platforms. New applications are hitting the market faster than we can try them. Here is a list of 43 new ones just published on LinkedIn.
We have been using AI tools in marketing for a year or two. One example is the production of marketing content like white papers or blog posts. AI tools write these pieces, end to end, in minutes and then a marketing person polishes them up and presto, large volumes of content fast and cheap.
It is a gigantic leap forward for people that do not have confidence in their English skills. It is also flooding the universe with content that is mostly a regurgitation of existing ideas – making it much harder for new ideas to emerge.
There will be many reactions, possibly hysteria, about how ChatGPT is going to disrupt our universe. The worry that people are going to be replaced by machines will be the center of most of the stories. Tomorrow I will continue this exploration by making the argument that tools like ChatGPT are going to cause a creativity explosion. Until then, here is a good piece on noahpinion: Hollis Robbins: Secretary jobs in the age of AI.
Thanks for reading. I would love to hear your thoughts!
Talking About ChatGPT
This is fascinating stuff. I had no idea white papers were generated by anything other than a human being. Also loved the image provided by Dall-E 2. 😀