AI and it’s societal implications
As you have probably been following, the recent launch of Chat GPT 3.5 and subsequent launch of 4.0, we have been following with great concern. This concern also comes with opportunity as we navigate the markets to see who will come out the big winners in this recent revolution.
What is ChatGPT?
Chat GPT is a Large Language Model (LLM) which essentially generate natural language text by determining the probability of what word would be next in a sentence to create a coherent response. To learn the probability of the next word for a response, the model has been given many billions of pages from the internet (articles, social media posts, technical white papers, etc.). In total, OpenAI dataset used to train the ChatGPT model is at over 45 Terabytes, close to 4 billion pages of text.
Of course this is an oversimplification of how it works but truth be told many of the responses given by ChatGPT cannot be explained by its founders which lends to it’s mysterious nature and raw power.
Who is behind ChatGPT?
Founded by OpenAI, the original intention was to create an open source, non-profit platform as it is believed that AI is an entity so powerful, it cannot be possessed by a single organization. Elon Musk (one of our favorites at The Garden Fund) was actually a founding member of OpenAI but has since left the organization due to differences of belief by its stakeholders. Musk has gone and recently formed his own AI organization to compete with OpenAI and has went as far as cutting off access to Twitter for OpenAI’s data set and learning.
Currently, Sam Altman is the head of OpenAI and has since seen a large influx of capital infusion from Microsoft who has seen great promise in the technology.
As an exercise and demonstration of this new technology, we simply asked ChatGPT:
“Tell me the societal implications of AI”. The response given:
Artificial intelligence (AI) has wide-ranging societal implications, which can have both positive and negative impacts. Some of the key societal implications of AI include:
Labor Displacement: AI has the potential to automate tasks across various industries, which could result in job displacement for workers whose tasks can be replaced by AI systems. This could lead to significant changes in the job market, with certain types of jobs becoming obsolete, and workers needing to acquire new skills to remain employable.
Economic Inequality: The impact of AI on the job market could exacerbate economic inequality, with workers in lower-skilled jobs being disproportionately affected. Without proper measures in place to address potential job displacement, there is a risk that AI could widen the gap between the rich and the poor, unless efforts are made to provide training and support for workers to adapt to the changing job landscape.
Ethical Concerns: AI raises ethical concerns related to bias, fairness, accountability, and transparency. AI systems are trained on data, and if the data used to train these systems contains biases, it can result in biased decision-making and perpetuate discrimination in areas such as hiring, lending, and criminal justice. Ensuring that AI systems are developed and used ethically is a critical societal concern.
Privacy and Security: The use of AI can involve the collection and analysis of vast amounts of data, which raises concerns about privacy and security. There are concerns about the potential misuse of personal data, surveillance, and the potential for AI systems to be hacked or manipulated, leading to breaches of privacy and security.
Safety and Liability: As AI systems become more autonomous and capable of making decisions with minimal human intervention, questions of safety and liability arise. Determining who is responsible when an AI system makes a mistake or causes harm becomes complex. Ensuring that AI systems are safe, reliable, and accountable is a significant societal challenge.
Governance and Regulation: The rapid development and deployment of AI raise questions about governance and regulation. There is a need for effective policies and regulations to guide the development, deployment, and use of AI, including issues such as data protection, algorithmic transparency, and accountability of AI developers and users.
Healthcare and Well-being: AI has the potential to transform healthcare by enabling improved diagnostics, personalized treatment plans, and telemedicine. However, there are also concerns about issues such as data privacy, bias in AI-driven diagnoses, and the potential for dehumanizing aspects of healthcare with the increased use of AI systems.
Social and Cultural Impact: The integration of AI into various aspects of society can have social and cultural implications. This includes changes in human interaction, communication, and behavior, as well as potential impacts on creativity, art, and culture. Understanding and managing the social and cultural impact of AI is an important societal consideration.
In conclusion, the societal implications of AI are complex and multifaceted, with both opportunities and challenges. Ensuring that AI is developed and used in an ethical, transparent, and responsible manner, with adequate consideration for its potential impact on labor, economy, ethics, privacy, security, safety, governance, healthcare, and culture, is crucial for harnessing the full potential of AI for the benefit of society.
As you can see, an incredibly impressive and comprehensive answer was given in a matter of seconds. The consequences of AI have already seen a reduction in the need of human labor in numerous industries and we are only in the early innings of this vastly powerful technology. This may seem like a script from a science fiction novel, but real life is often stranger than fiction.