Chat GPT: New Wonder of Artificial Intelligence … or a Tempting Curse?
Are these innovations the biggest advancements of our civilization … or are they, simply, the biggest mouse traps of a generation?
Garegin Nahapetyan | a Learn4Life CLMI fellow
It was in the 19th century when a man named Charles Gabbage created the first mechanical computer in 1822. It was, simply, created with the purpose of helping people get the information they needed faster, and more efficiently. And in a time when information access was so slow, who would disagree with that? While what he had created was nothing close to resembling our computer devices and their abilities today, its creation was an occasion that would lay the foundation for what our present day would be like.
In the first years of the 21st century, the main purpose of computers appeared to stay the same. But what did not stay the same was through the rise of newer computers. These were smaller, faster, and possessed more functions which, step-by-step, led to the rise of artificial intelligence.
Fast forward to the year 2023, and the rise of artificial intelligence has reached an all time high that some argue might even surpass human intelligence. Could this be the biggest advancement of our civilization … or the biggest mouse trap of this generation?
ChatGPT an Its Effects (… yet to come)
Which is why we’re now talking about ChatGPT. The latest invention and the so-called “right hand” of artificial intelligence, ChatGPT, is something that rapidly took over this recent year because of its fast evolving abilities. It is able to answer any question it is given without a single problem, it can write an entire essay over any topic for you in a matter of seconds. Educators in New York City and Seattle became so worried about its use recently that they outright banned its use. Still, one Massachusetts state Senator couldn’t resist making a point and actually used it to draft a whole bill on, of all issues, data privacy.
From some of these first impressions Chat GPT might look like a promising shortcut that can make life easier for everyone by saving both time and effort in the quest to secure (and share) the information they need. But those who have the ability to “read between the lines” believe that Chat GPT may present a new threat we’re not yet equipped to understand. What is that threat? What positive or negative outcomes might this present for our future?
If It’s Easy, What’s the Problem?
Although Chat GPT is an intelligent application which makes everything easier with less time and effort consumed, the negative impact it is having on our generation is rather profound. Illiteracy rates among adults, along with younger Millennial and Gen Z Americans, for example, is already somewhat high, therefore potentially forcing more Americans to become less well-read and more dependent on digital devices and “apps” to communicate for them. This also prevents students from deploying critical thinking skills or to innovate in ways that get their tasks done. In January of 2023, 1000 college students over the age of 18 years old were asked if they were using or have used Chat GPT. The results were truly astounding and troubling …
89 percent said they used Chat GPT on their homework.
48 percent said they already have used it to complete at home tests or quizzes.
Over 50 percent of them confessed they used Chat GPT to complete essays.
22 percent admitted to having asked Chat GPT for a paper outline.
These are, clearly, insane results. Which is why classrooms are now rushing to respond by checking student assignments with a variety of plagiarism-sniffing and app-use tools. Yet, such high Chat GPT use poses a significant problem on top of high illiteracy rates in the United States where more than half of all adults already can’t read beyond a 6th - 8th grade level.
Why would we add another device or way for those same adults and upcoming generations to worsen those literacy skills by not exercising the brain muscles necessary for constant reading, cognition, research and writing? That alone should worry most, if not all, teachers and policymakers. Education professionals and experts should revisit their teaching models and what exactly is happening in their classrooms. Policymakers should worry what an uneducated public, stupefied by shortcut apps like Chat GPT, means for democracy and American economic primacy. The consequences of these Chat GPT converging with low literacy rates could take effect very soon.
The Low Skills Generation
The main consequence of Chat GPT proliferation we can expect to occur, perhaps, relatively soon: a generation with the lowest intellect and literacy levels of all time, considering AI will be designed to do everything for us. Apart from the direct impact this will have on our generation, there is also yet another alarming development we should fear: joblessness.
Many jobs and tasks are done digitally by a specialist who makes their money completing those tasks, including areas such as: Copy writing, the ability to write texts, copies, and letters for marketing purposes. Other services include freelancing, the ability to provide digital services such as web designing and creation. Artificially intelligent Chat GPT can perform all of the tasks above for free, in less time … and, who knows, maybe with better quality? It depends on who’s being serviced and the perception of quality over time. Additionally, as Forbes argues recently, AI such as Chat GPT still can’t really innovate …
Currently, Chat GPT is limited in innovating and finding new solutions to problems. It also can’t always offer users a code that is appropriate for their website or application context. The technology is not yet fool-proof, so it may always be necessary for a human to review code written by an AI.
Taking all of this into consideration, where do professionals like copywriters and freelancers fit into all this? It remains to be seen. Anyone is welcome to speculate anything. However, with technologies such as Chat GPT streamlining many functions deemed either laborious or in need off more efficiency and attention to detail, we should expect higher rates of joblessness and bigger economic destabilization further down the line. There may be more problems and fewer solutions if policymakers don’t act quickly enough. Otherwise, perhaps we should consider closing or limiting artificial intelligence to keep everything in its right balance for the good of our future.