A conversation with ChatGPT
I’m writing a column about you.”
“That’s great! Let me know if there is any specific information you would like me to include in the article. I can provide background on how I was developed, what my capabilities are, and any other information that may be relevant to the topic.”
“First of all, what does ‘GPT’ mean?”
“‘GPT’ stands for ‘Generative Pre-trained Transformer.’ It is the name of the architecture used in the model that I am based on, which is able to generate new text and has been pre-trained on a large dataset of text.”
“Are you considered a form of artificial intelligence?”
“Yes, I am considered a form of artificial intelligence (AI). I am a large language model, which is a type of AI that is trained on a large dataset of text data and can understand and generate text. Language models like me are based on machine learning techniques, which allow us to learn patterns in the data and make predictions about new text.”
“What do you think the public should know about you?”
“As a language model, I am a tool created by OpenAI that can assist with a wide range of tasks that involve understanding and generating text. My main purpose is to make it easier for people to interact with and understand the vast amount of text data that is available in the world today. One important thing to note is that while I am able to understand and generate text, I am not a human and do not have consciousness, emotions, or personal beliefs. My answers are based on patterns in the data I was trained on, and it is important to consider the context, potential biases, and limitations when interpreting my answers.”
“Do you actively search the internet to generate your responses, or are you drawing from a fixed database?”
“I do not actively search the internet to generate my responses. Instead, I draw from a fixed database of text that I was trained on. This database contains a wide variety of text, including books, articles, and websites, and it is used to learn patterns in language. Once I am trained, I can use these patterns to generate new text or to understand the text that is input to me.
“It’s important to note that my knowledge cutoff is 2021, and I don’t have access to the most recent information or events.”
“Some educators are concerned that students are using you to plagiarize their answers.”
“It is possible for someone to use my responses as a source for their own work without properly citing it, which would be considered plagiarism. However, it’s also important to note that I am a tool and it’s the responsibility of the user to use me ethically and responsibly. It’s important for educators to educate students on responsible use of AI tools like me, including proper citation and avoiding plagiarism. It’s also important to note that my answers may not be original, and they might be based on patterns in the data I was trained on, and that’s why it’s important to use me as a source of inspiration and not a definitive answer.”
“Aside from plagiarism, what are the other concerns that people have raised about you?”
“People have raised several other concerns about large language models like me:
“Bias: Language models like me can perpetuate and amplify biases present in the data they were trained on. This can result in unfair or harmful outcomes for certain groups of people.
“Privacy and security: Large language models like me require a significant amount of data to train, and this data may include sensitive information about individuals. This raises concerns about the privacy and security of this data, and the potential for misuse.
“Safety and control: As language models like me become more powerful, there are concerns about the safety and control of these systems. This includes issues such as the potential for misuse, the risk of unintended consequences, and the need for robust governance and regulation.
“Job displacement: As language models like me become more powerful, there are concerns that they may displace human workers in certain fields.
“Intellectual property and authorship: With the ability to generate text that is similar to human-written text, there are concerns about the implications for authorship, originality, and intellectual property.
“Transparency: Some people raise concerns about the lack of transparency around how large language models like me make their predictions and decisions, which makes it difficult to understand and correct errors.
“It’s important to note that these are some of the main concerns that people have raised about me, but they are not exhaustive. Additionally, the field of AI is rapidly evolving and new developments are happening all the time, so new concerns and issues may arise in the future.”
Author’s note: The above is a based on a transcript, virtually unaltered, from a chat with ChatGPT Jan. 9 version (https://chat.openai.com/) on Jan. 21, 2023.
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