Retailers are testing your ability to distinguish humans from robots. It may not matter in some instances, or you could become a victim of misinformation.
Rapid Fallout
In a February post this year, I highlighted some deficiencies of AI as a writing tool. My article concluded with a warning that artificial intelligence is rapidly improving and coming after human jobs. Less than two months later, we are hearing of massive layoffs in high-tech industries. AI can write text, provide programming code, and generate artwork in minutes, not days or weeks. Virtually all businesses are assessing the impact of AI in their workflows.
In recent months, Google terminated 10,000 jobs. Facebook will soon shed 12,000. Last year, thousands were fired from Twitter. A growing number of companies are announcing AI integration.
Microsoft is planning ChatGPT – OpenAI integration with its Bing search engine. Google is rolling out Bard chatbot with its in-house AI algorithms. IFTTT now has a new tier for subscribers, called AI Services. Another popular social media posting service, called Buffer, includes AI. OpenTable now integrates ChatGPT AI restaurant recommendations.
Rumors suggest that Apple is exploring ways to integrate AI with Siri. On the art front, Adobe will soon feature Firefly generative AI within its software.
Website moderators and editors are fielding more email offers from individuals who want to provide writing. Some solicitors admit that it’s a subscription for AI articles. Many email inquiries are likely written with AI. Other freelancers do not admit their use of AI to deliver stories about topics unfamiliar to them.
Artificial Consequences
Elon Musk and a group of artificial intelligence experts and industry executives are calling for a six-month pause in developing systems more powerful than OpenAI's newly launched GPT-4, in an open letter citing potential risks to society and humanity. (Reuters)
Imagine someone unaware of the differences between a field goal and a hockey goal writing about sports. What about a person who can barely butter toast providing cooking recipes? Millions of users are accepting the following warning that appears when signing up for ChatGPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer):
⚠️ While we [ChatGPT] have safeguards in place, the system may occasionally generate incorrect or misleading information and produce offensive or biased content. It is not intended to give advice.
The interface, not unlike text messaging, allows users to chat about virtually anything. Some users are forming attachments to the social media “follower” that responds to every comment or inquiry.
Game-changing ChatGPT already has a successor called GPT-4. It offers a more advanced and powerful version of the language model, with potentially larger training data, more parameters, and improved natural language processing capabilities.
ChatGPT is a helpful programming tool, even if not always accurate. It sometimes suggests inserting pipes within square brackets. This invalidates Liquid code.
I posed the same query to ChatGPT as earlier with another AI chatbot: Write an evocative story about liver cancer. Here’s the second response offered.
As I sit here in the hospital room, staring out the window at the dull gray sky, my mind is consumed with thoughts of my diagnosis. Liver cancer. The words echo through my mind, reverberating like a hammer striking a nail. It’s funny how something so small and seemingly insignificant can wreak such havoc on a person’s life.
I remember the day I found out. I was at work, sitting at my desk when my phone rang. It was my doctor’s office, asking me to come in for an urgent appointment. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but looking back, I should have known something was wrong.
The next few days were a blur. Tests, scans, and appointments filled my schedule, leaving me exhausted and anxious. And then came the news. The diagnosis. The words I never wanted to hear. “You have liver cancer.”
My world came crashing down around me. Everything I had planned, everything I had hoped for, suddenly seemed out of reach. I felt like I was drowning in a sea of uncertainty and fear, unable to see a way out.
As the days passed, the reality of my situation sank in. Treatment options were limited, and the prognosis was bleak. The cancer had spread too far, too fast. I knew what was coming. The end.
But even amid all the darkness and despair, there were moments of light. Moments of hope. The love and support of my family and friends, the kindness of the doctors and nurses who cared for me, the simple pleasures of a warm cup of tea or a good book. These small things helped me to find peace and acceptance in the face of my diagnosis.
Now, as I sit here in this hospital room, with the end drawing near, I am filled with gratitude for all the moments of light that have illuminated my journey. And though my time on this earth is coming to an end, I know that my legacy will live on in the memories of those I leave behind.
The first ChatGPT third-person story began with the words “Once upon a time” so I regenerated a response for the first-person results above. The CopyLeaks AI Content Detector flags the story as AI generative.
If it isn’t already obvious, this year, retailers and others are testing your ability to distinguish humans from robots. In some cases, it does not matter. You will welcome a clear product description. In other instances, AI will blur the line between fact and fiction, exposing you to become a potential victim of misinformation. Is this a challenge you welcome or fear?
