HAL

It’s been years since I have written a “tech talk” post, however, this doesn’t really count as one. In fact, this is probably a bit more like a SoapBox. The latest fad in tech is Chat GPT and OpenAI. I work in tech but I have not so much as performed a Google search for Chat GPT. As a programmer, I love automating simple tasks in my life but it’s overcoming challenges that help us grow. Asking an AI to write something for me is not something that needs to be automated. Chat GPT and OpenAI are making the world a lazier place and contributing to the decline of society (which began with social media).

We already live in a world where there is an entire generation that doesn’t want to do anything for themselves. They feel entitled to everything without doing any of the work to earn it. I’m surprised they have the brain capacity to articulate what they want Chat GPT to write for them. The fine art of creative writing and composition has been cannibalized. Chat GPT and OpenAI will make lazy people lazier and more fraudulent.

I’m Not Wholly Against It

To be fair, I don’t think OpenAI will lead to the rise of machines. I can see this working but only under two conditions. 1) Let’s hope dishonest people are in the minority. Back in the day, when the technology to burn CDs and DVDs first arrived, most people used them for their intended use. Data backup and storage. However, there were other people who would use them to pirate music and movies. Sure the MPAA and the RIAA tried to encode source material so it couldn’t be duplicated but people still found a way to decrypt it.

The second way this is going to work is through a system of checks and balances to thwart fraud and plagiarism. The more intelligent Chat GPT becomes the more measures need to be in place to ensure people are not plagiarising the Internet instead of doing the work themselves. These things should be used as tools to facilitate your work but never replace it. Asking Chat GPT to write your term paper while you play Call of Duty is not an honest day’s work.

I’ll play spectator for the time being because I don’t see Chat GPT or OpenAI as game-changers. In five years they will be a frivolous gimmick and will not define the success or failure of a product.

The closest I might get to any kind of OpenAI is Github Copilot but I have no interest in Chat GPT. I barely use Siri.

/cheers