My latest subject to ponder to which I wrote the opening line a few days ago. This morning I attended Technology Coffee at Cool Down in South Bay with a few regulars, David Ray and host Enrique Monteguiado. New folks coming to join were a visiting coder, Julian L from Coffee & Code in Baltimore, a business coach, a software professional, and another entrepreneur type. I thought asking for some input would be interesting. I also called my mentor friend Barry who introduced me to ChatGPT when it first arrived! https://openai.com/index/chatgpt/
“We’ve trained a model called ChatGPT which interacts in a conversational way. The dialogue format makes it possible for ChatGPT to answer follow-up questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests.” ChatGPT is a sibling model to InstructGPT, which is trained to follow an instruction in a prompt and provide a detailed response. We is excited to introduce ChatGPT to get users’ feedback and learn about its strengths and weaknesses. During the research preview, usage of ChatGPT is free. Try it now at chat.openai.com(opens in a new window).
ChatGPT is a cutting-edge technology developed by OpenAI that has revolutionized the field of conversational AI. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the wonders of ChatGPT, its underlying technology, applications in various fields, benefits, limitations, ethical considerations, and its future potential. ChatGPT is an advanced chatbot developed by OpenAI with the aim of creating a conversational AI that can engage in natural language conversations. It is based on the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) architecture and has been trained on a vast dataset to generate human-like responses. With its ability to understand and produce text that is coherent and contextually relevant, ChatGPT has gained widespread attention.
At the core of ChatGPT lies the transformer-based language model, which is a type of deep learning architecture that has revolutionized natural language processing tasks. The transformer model utilizes self-attention mechanisms to capture long-range dependencies in the input text, enabling it to understand and generate meaningful responses. This architecture allows ChatGPT to process and produce language in a way that closely mimics human conversation.”
Amid a huge amount of hype around generative AI, a new study from researchers at MIT sheds light on the technology’s impact on work, finding that it increased productivity for workers assigned tasks like writing cover letters, delicate emails, and cost-benefit analyses.
The tasks in the study weren’t quite replicas of real work: They didn’t require precise factual accuracy or context about things like a company’s goals or a customer’s preferences. Still, a number of the study’s participants said the assignments were similar to things they’d written in their real jobs — and the benefits were substantial. Access to the assistive chatbot ChatGPT decreased the time it took workers to complete the tasks by 40 percent, and output quality, as measured by independent evaluators, rose by 18 percent. The researchers hope the study, which appears today in open-access form in the journal Science, helps people understand the impact that AI tools like ChatGPT can have on the workforce.
https://news.mit.edu/2023/study-finds-chatgpt-boosts-worker-productivity-writing-0714
I was at San Diego Technology Coffee. Also attending were folks from Apple, Coffee and Computers and the like. The consensus was that Chat GPT is excellent at solving technology. For instance asking it writes an algorithm for you in Java script. It’s great at detailed data analysis. Though everyone said that does be sure to edit. So it is best to use it as a tool for subject matter you have an understanding of. It speeds up the process of creating, especially in writing and researching. Think of it as a Language tool. Ask it to present your data in the style of someone you wish. Like talk about relativity how Einstein would. At cool down monthly coffee the tech gurus said that because of its success its spurning a wave of AI based startups!
From the students:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/02/learning/students-chatgpt.html
By now you’ve probably heard of ChatGPT, a powerful new artificial intelligence chatbot released to the public late last year that can craft jokes and working computer code, guess at medical diagnoses, and create text-based Harry Potter games. And, yes, it can also write essays and solve problem sets, a fact that has “sent many educators into a panic,” notes Kevin Roose, a Times Tech columnist. Some school districts have already banned this new technology; others are attempting to teach students how to use it responsibly.” I have never used ChatGPT, but I have used similar chatbots purely for exploration. When I used these chatbots I came to the conclusion that they aren’t very good at writing papers for the fact that they are very brief and often lack the level of knowledge required to write a paper on a certain topic. When you type in a prompt they just use very brief, filler words to write your response rather than actually use educated terms. I think the concept is decent but it needs to be very much advanced upon before it can be used frequently.”— Will, Saint Peter High School, MN
Students worry we’ll lose our creativity and critical thinking skills if we rely on chatbots.
One of my biggest worries is that I would rely too much on these tools and lose the capacity for critical and creative thought. I personally want to learn how to communicate myself clearly and to find my own distinctive voice. If I always rely on ChatGPT to generate material for me, I might not be challenged to improve as a writer. I’m also concerned that the information produced by ChatGPT might not be reliable or secure. As a student, I want to be able to trust the knowledge I’m gaining and avoid coming into contact with false information or damaging viewpoints.
— Faris, Hinsdale Central High School
They said ChatGPT can actually aid learning.
I have used ChatGPT a number of times to test its capabilities. I was very impressed with its ability to write essays, including essays using sources. I understand that this would not necessarily be ideal for a school environment where students are meant to create their own essays and develop writing skills by doing so. However, it can also be used to give essay outlines, which I could see as being incredibly helpful for students. It also provides accurate information on historical situations, which allows for easy access to a reliable source for students.
— Rachel, Atrisco Heritage Academy
From the teachers:
https://time.com/6300950/ai-schools-chatgpt-teachers/
Earlier this year, as OpenAI.com, the website of the company that produced ChatGPT, became one of the 50 most visited websites in the world, some of the nation’s largest school districts, from New York City to Los Angeles, banned its usage in the classroom while they worked to formulate policies around it. Meanwhile, teachers desperate to figure out how to harness the tech for good congregated in Facebook groups like “chatGPT for teachers” (about 300,000 members) and “The AI Classroom” (more than 20,000 members).
Many of the more than a dozen teachers TIME interviewed for this story argue that the way to get kids to care is to proactively use ChatGPT in the classroom. A Walton Family Foundation survey published July 18 found 73% of teacher respondents had heard of ChatGPT, and 33% used it to help come up with “creative ideas for classes.”
There are real concerns about ceding too much instruction to the program: Weingarten of the teachers’ union and others fear it will promote educational inequities, further dividing classrooms into students whose families have the resources to afford the high-speed internet connection that eases access to ChatGPT and students whose families do not. There are also worries about biases in the data AI uses to craft its answers to users’ prompts. “Much of the information that’s online, that ChatGPT is trained on, is going to be predominantly of western perspective, and what’s going to be less represented are the perspectives, knowledge, and experiences of underrepresented communities,” says Ezekiel Dixon-Román, Director of the Edmund W. Gordon Institute for Urban and Minority Education and Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University.
And it will be no small challenge for teachers to figure out how to use the technology to develop students’ critical thinking skills without sacrificing the meaningful connections that can be the product of human-to-human teaching—an even more urgent challenge when it comes to students who mentally checked out during the abrupt shift from in-person instruction to virtual school during the pandemic. When it comes to getting knowledge to stick, there may be no substitute for human relationships. To many teachers, even if they’re getting ready to welcome ChatGPT into the classroom when the doors re-open this year, that’s reason enough not to fear the extent of the disruption on the horizon.
“I’ve been to former students’ weddings and baby showers and funerals of their parents,” says Millard, the high school English teacher in Michigan. “I’ve hugged my students. I’ve high-fived my students. I’ve cried with my students. A computer will never do that. Ever, ever.”