Living In A Time of AI and ChatGPT
[April 2024] You have heard it repeatedly: AI is here. From that annoying recording that acts as if it is a person to applications that go far beyond simple logic to accomplish some amazing tasks, AI is here. Is AI as good as its supporters claim? Dana looks at the topic.
One of the most prolific things to come out of the Computer Revolution is Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become ubiquitous in the modern world, permeating various facets of technology and daily life.
It is literally into everything.
ChatGPT … What it is
One of the recent services you might have read about is ChatGPT.
ChatGPT is used by millions daily worldwide, but if you are over 40, you probably have never seen it. That is about to change.
Here is the link to a free version of ChatGPT: Put this into a browser and ask it whatever you want.
How AI can benefit you
The result is not unlike when you call customer service, and the voice says, “Please tell me how we can help you?”
It will reply with anything from a simple answer to a simple question to much more.
When you ask a question, the system will reply, perhaps based on the hundreds of thousands – or millions – of scanned documents. You could start, for example, by asking it to write you a 1570-word paper on the American Revolution.
Very quickly – and it can be very rapidly – you will see the answer to your question, as well as a couple of the ethical problems with ChatGPT: it is very easy to get results and, yes, it has been writing students’ academic school papers for many of them, undermining the educational process.
AI in Broadcast
AI can review and sample sound, both spoken and music.
Several websites now feature AI taking familiar songs and “enhancing” them. But there is more.
Far beyond just taking a sample of a “beat” or set of chords to use as a base for a new piece of music, AI can actually produce a complete musical performance. This past week, a new record dropped from Country Star Randy Travis, although he suffered what some thought was a career-ending stroke ten years ago. He and his producers used AI that allowed him to produce a song that even his close associates thought was his own voice.
The production was said not to have been simple or easy, but it can be done.
THE Legal and Ethical Issues.
Teachers assign papers for two reasons: to impart subject matter expertise and teach students how to conduct research, become experts on any subject, and articulate their ideas effectively.
However, ChatGPT takes that learning experience away. While ChatGPT is a great tool to help people edit their papers and reports, it should not replace the student actively engaging with the material and actually writing those papers.
Furthermore, there are legal and ethical implications associated with using ChatGPT for academic and business purposes. Plagiarism, copyright infringement, and intellectual dishonesty are significant concerns. (There have been several reports where ChatGPT makes up its citations and references. Worse, a High School teacher was recently arrested for using AI to impersonate the Principal using improper language.)
Furthermore, perhaps you recall that most of the recent television and motion picture industries were shut down. A major issue was how AI could take some images and, for instance, eliminate the need for extras in movies.
As you can readily see, in a real way, misuse or overreliance on ChatGPT can lead to some bad consequences. It is a lot like fire: something that can be a great tool to provide heat and light – or it can burn your house down!
Quick Takes
But if you want/need to get a quick take on a subject or topic, it is hard to beat the quick and wide-ranging information retrieval from ChatGPT.
Only your imagination limits what you can do with ChatGPT. Hopefully, you will use caution and allow your moral compass and conscience to determine what you do with it.
As an example of what can happen, try this out of curiosity: try running this article through ChatGPT. Take a look, then try that output again.
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Dana Puopolo, now the Director of Technology at Televisa-Univision in Boston, has been in markets large and small. His emphasis on audio purity is well-known. You can reach Dana at dpuopolo@usa.net
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