Communication in a ChatGPT World: The Pros and Cons of Embracing This New Technology

AI has always been controversial, and frightening. It’s frightening because it’s so unprecedented, which is why it serves as such a catalyst for much in the way of dystopian, post-apocalyptic science fiction. Since Samuel Butler’s 1863 article, Darwin Among The Machines, people have posited the possible evolution of sentience in the infinitely stronger, smarter, quicker-thinking, enhanced recalling machines. This naturally developed into ideas of people creating this machine intelligence in fiction works such as Harlon Ellison’s I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, William Gibson’s Neuromancer, and Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot.

While today, AI is a daily occurrence for most of the developed world, it (fortunately) resembles nothing like the megalomaniacal, jingoist, or just plain old insane machine intelligence of fiction, there is a significant concern among the learned in AI’s rapid development.

Now, the world is in the throes of ChatGPT. The computer conversationalist can point you to mental health resources, help you find a good master's degree in journalism online, and even help you with complex coding problems. However, the unscrupulous are using ChatGPT to do their jobs for them, and with intelligent machines capable of mimicking humans to the degree that they are imperceptible to any meaningful degree - what could the dangers be? Do the pros outweigh the cons? What could this mean for the world’s industries and economies? Let’s try and find out.

Pros - Efficiency, Fun, Connection, and Ideas.

To fully understand the implications of AI and how it could revolutionize the communications industry, let’s pretend you’re studying a masters degree in journalism online. You’ve got a big assessment due but you've just finished organizing your research. You’ve sat down to write the thing and - mental blank.

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is like giving computers a brain of their own. It's all about making machines smart enough to do things that usually need human thinking, like learning, figuring stuff out, and solving problems. You've probably talked to Siri or Alexa, right? That's AI, understanding what you say and doing tasks for you. Then there's the magic behind Netflix suggesting the perfect show—it's AI understanding what you like. It's not just about talking gadgets, though. AI is rocking the world of self-driving cars, helping doctors diagnose illnesses, and even making big decisions in businesses. It's like giving computers a dose of human smarts to make our lives easier and cooler.

If you thought the second paragraph was a writer, we’re sorry to inform you that paragraph was in fact 99% written by ChatGPT, 1% a writer giving ChatGPT criteria to follow. All in all that paragraph took about 30 seconds to synthesize through instructions fed into ChatGPT. Now imagine you’re that journalism student struggling with that assessment. ChatGPT starts to look a little friendly, doesn’t it?

AI language models are capable of drafting entire articles, essays, and stories in a matter of seconds, leaving writers free to get to the meat of their work, editing parts that don’t fit with their vision, and making sure the details align. It’s also a brilliant tool for idea generation, and reduces time spent umming and ahhing at a blank computer screen.

Not including editing time, it took a writer with an average typing speed of 75 words per minute nearly 2 minutes to type out the same 113-word paragraph. The implications for productivity are huge, with AI already capable of mimicking humans to such a degree that they can imitate close friends and family members.

AI communication models have provided efficiency not only in professional circles, but have led to unique parasocial relationships, where people have experimented with using ChatGPT and other AI models to fulfill a need for connection. So, with a computer that never sleeps, enhances productivity, and can still provide a convincing “human” interaction, surely the efficiency of AI models like ChatGPT speaks for itself.

Cons - Reduced Critical Thinking, Lack of Imagination, And Loss of Humanity.

So there is clearly a case for ChatGPT, though this mainly comes from the perspective of doing the “menial” tasks so that our workers are more efficient and focused. However, the major drawback is that this isn’t just relegated to assigning AI models to the menial tasks. Already, AI is being used to replace workers in several sectors, but aside from massive economic turnover, there is a distinct concern in a lack of skills practice.

Writers, communicators, and customer service/support representatives all rely on critical thinking skills, and the ability to think outside the box. While these skills are essential, they are also usually practiced when coming up with ideas, developing brainstorms, or fostering concepts. Currently, these are key areas that AI is taking over.

Once we assign a computer to take over these things, and we encourage the practice of no longer needing to do this for ourselves, it paints a picture of a rather slippery slope for humanity. This is part of the reason why more than 33,000 people, including scientists, engineers, and other industry professionals, have signed an open letter calling for a global halt to all AI technology for 6 months. This veto is to allow for a period of research, training, and study to implement regulations on the development of these models.

The Fact and The Fiction

It’s hard to hear “AI” and not be concerned. After all, we use computers in our daily life to streamline our tasks and make our work more effective. Now we’re dealing with the concept of machines learning on their own, retaining, and perfectly recalling any input they’ve ever received. The implications are astronomical, and although we aren’t quite in the realm of post-apocalypse science fiction yet, the fact remains that AI has already replaced workers in several industries.

But do the benefits of AI outweigh what we have to sacrifice in order to implement it? Is this merely a question of learning how to use new technology, rather than the technology and its developers being at fault? After all, AI allows us to pursue the more satisfying aspects of our jobs with minimal boredom, it allows us to be faster and more efficient, and in the realm of communications and customer support, apparently does just as good a job as real people.

Whatever you believe, whether this article has repulsed or convinced you, perhaps it’s worth remembering that there are at least 33,000 people in the world scared of the implications of unrestricted AI development.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.