What is ChatGPT - and if so, how many?

Everywhere you look, you read about ChatGPT. For many months, //next columnist Markus Sekulla has not experienced such hype. Be in the media or on Twitter or LinkedIn, a lot is currently being written about the prototype of OpenAI's new AI. So it’s time for a closer look.

There you sit as an author and are supposed to write an article about the mega hype ChatGPT. Yesterday I would have sat in front of a blank sheet of paper. Today I'm sitting in front of a blank Word page. Tomorrow, if the hype is real, I'll be sitting in front of an empty chat box into which I'll simply enter a question and the article will just miraculously appear.

I have mixed feelings about trends in general. If you've been observing what's going on in the digital world for years, you can't avoid trend topics. Why should you? Trends are fun. They simply mean that technologies, platforms or even hard/softwares have made it out of the niche and into the mainstream, where they pop up and die down – usually within a matter of months. And what have we experienced there. Does anyone still remember Clubhouse, Google+ or Amazon Alexa? Hardly? Thought so. It's possible that the journey on the hype cycle will soon go downhill again for ChatGPT. For Generative AI, however, the journey is just beginning.

I could have had ChatGPT write this whole article. And I admit: I tried it...

ChatGPT Test

Markus: Write me an article about ChatGPT.

ChatGPT: ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art language model developed by OpenAI that is capable of generating human-like text. It is based on the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) model, which has been trained with a huge dataset of over 40 GB of text data. As a result, ChatGPT has a deep understanding of natural language and can generate text that resembles what a human would write. [...]

I like this first paragraph. I didn't feel the rest of the generated article, as they say nowadays. I had more fun with the question about the headline: 

Markus: Write me a good headline for an article on ChatGPT.

ChatGPT: Exploring the Capabilities and Limitations of ChatGPT: How this Language Model is Changing the Game for Text Generation.

Well. The other two proposals were also mediocre. But then...

Markus: Write me a funny headline for an article on ChatGPT!

ChatGPT: ChatGPT - The AI that will finally write that novel you've been procrastinating on

Love it!

Still - I like my headline too. Until we see that AIs can imitate our creativity, it will probably (hopefully) take a while.

AI goes mainstream?

For years, AI has eked out a somewhat shadowy existence in digital contemplation. Many who described AI actually meant machine learning. To this day, many say, there is not even 100 percent certainty that AI even exists. Now, through ChatGPT, we are seeing AI hype for the first time, popping up in every break conversation even at second-rate digital events. Funny enough, as ChatGPT is far from the only great tool on the market. Hint: enter DALL-E in your search engine.

The hype even brought the platform to its capacity limit. Those who wanted to jump on the bandwagon in the last few weeks will have been surprised because no more users were accepted. In the meantime, it is possible to register again and Microsoft wants to make ChatGPT more widely available in the near future.

2023 will be exciting in the area of content

In plain language, this means that you can have the AI write a first draft for every article, post or script. What we do with it and how we add the necessary human touch is up to us. And there is a lot in store for us. It remains to be seen what role ChatGPT will play in the creation of homework in educational institutions or in text-heavy jobs. For now, I see this development with a lot of optimism. Especially because I know many writers who struggle with the first draft, who fear the blank paper on their desk. With an AI, you can quickly conjure up a first draft and then edit, improve and add to it. What a time to be alive.

Finally, I'd like to share with you my absolute low-light of Generative AI inputs (and that’s not on the AI!):

"Write me a LinkedIn post that will go viral".

I don't even know where to start on that one....

Text: Markus Sekulla, Freelance Digital Consultant