What is ChatGPT?

So, I was talking to my sister yesterday and she told me she did not know about ChatGPT, so that made me think that others may not know about ChatGPT either. I am not an expert about generative AI, or Large Language Models, which ChatGPT is, but I do know and have used it to help write some parts of my articles and have made my own natural language processing applications previously. My purpose for writing this article is to first give a primer to what ChatGPT is and what you can do with it, and then to talk about the implications of this advancement of technology.

What is ChatGPT?

Let us start by asking ChatGPT what it is. When I ask chatGPT “What is ChatGPT”, found at https://chat.openai.com/, which you can replicate yourself by following the link, I get the following output.

ChatGPT is an AI-powered conversational agent based on OpenAI's GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) technology. It is a large language model that can understand and generate human-like text in a conversational manner. The "GPT" in ChatGPT stands for "Generative Pre-trained Transformer," which refers to the underlying deep learning architecture used to build the model.

OpenAI developed ChatGPT to enable natural language understanding and generation in a wide range of applications, including chatbots, virtual assistants, customer support systems, language translation, and more. ChatGPT is trained on vast amounts of text data and learns patterns and language structures to respond contextually to user inputs.

The model can take in a prompt or a series of messages as input and generate a relevant and coherent response. It has been designed to understand context, follow the flow of a conversation, and generate human-like text, making it a valuable tool for interactive applications and human-computer interactions.

Keep in mind that my responses are based on the knowledge available up to September 2021, and there may have been updates or newer versions of ChatGPT released since then.

There is a lot to unpack there. First of all chatGPT was developed by OpenAI to be used by the public. It is a deep learning language model, a form of artificial intelligence where the program learns the instructions to solve a problem on its own by using many different examples of human generated text. The specifics of how it was developed will not be discussed here but I may, if I receive good feedback from my readers, write an article explaining how natural language processing works. For now, all that is important is ChatGPT can answer our questions by using what it “learned” from the internet.

Does this mean that ChatGPT has “learned” all of our secrets and can use it to take over the world. No, the answer to that question is no. Our current AI, ChatGPT included, no more “learns” than a your thermostat “learns” to automatically set your air conditioning below 70 degrees when the clock strikes 6 pm. What we label as AI “learning” is just us personifying a series of 1s and 0s. Our current AI is a far way off from resembling our own forms of intelligence, but if we continue researching new methods to generate AI based on theories of how our brain works we may one day develop a truly intelligent AI. For now however, our AI does not understand anything it outputs or any of the input. Instead it follows patterns.

That being said, it is impressive how accurately ChatGPT follows the patterns it has “learned”. Its answers to questions read as if they were generated by a human. I have asked it multiple different questions, including programming questions, and it responds correctly most of the time. I have discovered some problems with programming questions I have asked that I needed to remedy but it is still very impressive. Which brings us to the problems that ChatGPT or similar text generation robots might create for our society and future.

Problems created by ChatGPT

It is remarkable what ChatGPT can do, but it does create some problems we, as a society, will soon have to solve. Educators are currently struggling with what ChatGPT can do because some students, instead of writing an essay about Harriet Tubman, ask ChatGPT to write the essay for them. This is possible because it generates different text every time it is asked the same question, for the most part, and it doesn’t need to be cited because it was not generated by another human being, which means it can get past the plagiarism filters schools use to catch plagiarism. Let us see an example.

In the following example I will ask ChatGPT to write a 5 paragraph essay about Harriet Tubman two different times, so we can see if it repeats the answer. We can discuss the result below the output by ChatGPT.

Question:Write me a 5 paragraph essay about Harriet Tubman

Answer (1):

Harriet Tubman: The Courageous Conductor of the Underground Railroad

Harriet Tubman, born into slavery in Maryland around 1820, emerged as one of the most revered figures in American history for her role as a conductor in the Underground Railroad. She was a woman of incredible courage and determination, defying the oppressive institution of slavery and paving the way for freedom and equality for others. Throughout her life, Tubman tirelessly fought against injustice, becoming an emblem of the abolitionist movement and a beacon of hope for countless enslaved individuals.

Tubman's journey to freedom began in 1849 when she escaped from her enslavers and made her way to Pennsylvania, a free state. Despite her newfound freedom, Tubman could not turn her back on her family and friends who remained in bondage. Over the next decade, she risked her life repeatedly by returning to the South to help around 70 enslaved individuals escape to freedom through the Underground Railroad, a network of secret routes and safe houses. She earned the nickname "Moses" for leading her people out of bondage, much like the biblical figure leading the Israelites to freedom.

Beyond her role as a conductor, Tubman actively participated in the fight against slavery during the Civil War. She served as a nurse, cook, and spy for the Union Army, showcasing her unwavering commitment to the cause of emancipation. Tubman's efforts as a nurse were especially notable, as she tended to wounded soldiers and worked towards improving medical conditions for African American troops.

Tubman's bravery and dedication to the abolitionist cause earned her the admiration of prominent figures like Frederick Douglass and John Brown, both of whom recognized her contributions to the struggle for freedom. Her commitment to justice did not end with the abolition of slavery; Tubman continued to fight for women's suffrage, understanding that true equality could only be achieved through the enfranchisement of all citizens.

Today, Harriet Tubman's legacy endures as a symbol of resilience, bravery, and the fight for justice. Her role as a conductor in the Underground Railroad and her numerous contributions during the Civil War stand as a testament to the power of the individual to effect change, even in the face of overwhelming adversity. Tubman's life and actions continue to inspire generations, reminding us that the struggle for equality is ongoing, and that ordinary individuals can make extraordinary impacts in the fight for freedom and justice.

Answer (2):

Harriet Tubman: A Heroine of Freedom and Equality

Harriet Tubman, born into slavery in Maryland in the early 1820s, is widely celebrated as a courageous abolitionist, conductor on the Underground Railroad, and a leading figure in the fight for freedom and equality in the United States. Despite the harrowing circumstances of her upbringing, Tubman's indomitable spirit and unwavering determination led her to become one of the most influential and heroic figures in American history.

Throughout her life, Harriet Tubman demonstrated remarkable bravery and resourcefulness in her fight against slavery. Escaping from bondage in 1849, she embarked on a perilous journey northward to Pennsylvania, where she found freedom. However, she did not stop there. Risking her own life repeatedly, she returned to the South over 19 times to guide her family and hundreds of other enslaved individuals to freedom through the Underground Railroad, a network of secret routes and safe houses. Her nickname, "Moses," speaks to her ability to lead her people out of slavery, much like the biblical figure of liberation.

Tubman's contributions to the abolitionist cause extended beyond her efforts on the Underground Railroad. During the Civil War, she served as a nurse, cook, and spy for the Union Army, becoming the first woman to lead an armed assault in the conflict. Her bravery and strategic brilliance earned her the respect and admiration of soldiers and commanders alike. Tubman's work as a nurse also highlights her compassion and dedication to caring for others, even amidst the chaos of war.

Beyond her direct actions, Harriet Tubman played an essential role in the women's suffrage movement. She recognized the intersectionality of oppression and understood that the fight for women's rights was inseparable from the struggle for racial equality. Tubman worked alongside suffragists like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, advocating for the rights of women, African Americans, and all marginalized groups.

Harriet Tubman's impact on American society goes far beyond her lifetime. Her legacy as a freedom fighter, leader, and advocate for equality continues to inspire generations. Her face graced the U.S. twenty-dollar bill, becoming the first African American woman to appear on American currency, a testament to her enduring influence. Tubman's life serves as a reminder that one person's determination and courage can make a significant difference in the fight for justice and the pursuit of a better world.

In conclusion, Harriet Tubman's life story is one of resilience, bravery, and compassion. From her daring escapes from slavery to her leadership on the Underground Railroad and her contributions to the Union Army during the Civil War, Tubman's actions exemplify the true meaning of heroism. Her tireless efforts in the abolitionist and suffrage movements have left an indelible mark on American history, and her legacy continues to inspire people today to fight for freedom, equality, and justice for all. Harriet Tubman's life and accomplishments stand as a powerful testament to the transformative potential of one person's determination and the enduring impact of fighting for what is right.

As you can see the output of ChatGPT is very convincing and it changed its output when I asked the same question again. This means that it cannot be caught as plagiarism and doesn’t need to be cited, but does pose a lot of difficulty for English educators. While talking to my sister she made the point that the education system needs to be updated due to the modern advances in technology and changes in society. Access to AI as advanced as ChatGPT, which is just the beginning as Google and other major technology industries have created their own bots similar to ChatGPT, may expedite the need for this education update.

There are other problems with ChatGPT that may not be as immediately evident as the impact ChatGPT is having on education. In an article written by Ilia Shumailov et al. in May 2023 titled The Curse of Recursion: Training on Generated Data Makes Models Forget (Link to article: https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.17493 ), Ilia demonstrates the dangers of using large language models like ChatGPT to generate “original” content for publication on the web. Since models like ChatGPT are “trained” from data extracted from the internet, future generations of ChatGPT may be “trained” from previous outputs. This, the authors demonstrate, would cause the models to regress to the average, removing the outliers that are readily generated by the human brain. What does this mean? This means that future versions of ChatGPT may not be able to generate seemingly original outputs and instead output the same response for the same question, or produce an unintelligible response, because it essentially was trained off of its own output. Whether this is a good thing or not is up for debate, but the data shows that if future models are “trained” the same way ChatGPT was then this will be the future.

I am not even getting into the political changes ChatGPT, or other language models, may enact. Social media is already causing drastic changes in society, including its influence in politics, and adding language models like ChatGPT may have profound impacts for future generations.

Conclusion

I am just voicing the potential problems with advancements in technology, I am in no way against these advancements. I am an advocate of AI. Better AI can help us generate better medication, and discover new scientific insight which may help us solve the problems we currently struggle to solve. It is however important to identify these problems with AI and large language models so we can find ways to solve them. It is hard to solve a problem that is not easily seen, which is one major reason why climate change is so hotly debated. Its impact had not been easily seen, except for those studying it, until recently so it was largely ignored. Before a problem can be solved, it must be identified and accepted as a reality.

It is important to discuss advancing technology, such as this topic, especially in such a rapidly changing world. ChatGPT was launched, according to Wikipedia, on November 30th, 2022, and various articles were, and are continually, written about its creation and impact on society. Yet, my sister and various other people I have talked to do not yet know what it is or what it can do, yet it is already impacting society. That is one reason I have written this article, and one thing I hope you take away from it. I also hope I have inspired you to ask ChatGPT a question and be struck in wonder as you read the response. I hope you keep in mind the potential problems with this technology, and think of ways you might help ameliorate them. Lastly, I want this article to inspire conversation. Share it at the dinner table, on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or any other social media outlet you use. Also, write me a comment if you enjoyed the article, have any suggestions for its improvement, or ideas for future articles. I am open to your comments.