Has it occurred to you that I, Linda Bergthold, may not be writing this post? It is becoming more apparent that future blogs may be written by a “bot,” a tool that can explain or describe anything you can imagine in milliseconds, faster and maybe more accurate than anything a human could do. Is it important that you know I am the person who writes this?
Well, let me assure you — this blog will always be written by one of the three of us — Nancy Healey, Dinah Frishling and me, Linda Bergthold. No matter whether it is interesting, well written or irrelevant to you, it will be done by us humans until we no longer can do it. And if we cannot continue, we will certainly let you know. Because of our recent problem with malware, we have installed extra protection for our site, including safeguarding your email addresses and any comments you would make. Those same safeguards will hopefully eliminate the weird blogs on furniture and Jesus that appeared on our site a few weeks ago!
In the meantime, what is going on with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and websites like ChatGPT? What can you trust?
ChatGPT is an app you can subscribe to (for free now) that will deliver essays, poems and commentary on any subject you ask for. You can type in “write me a sonnet like shakespeare about love” or “is climate change real”? Or “do you have any creative ideas for a 80 year old’s birthday? ” What you will get back is uncomfortably accurate, and it seems to us older folks like it is totally crazy.
You can use ChapGPT for free now. You need to login and give them your email and mobile phone, but if you are willing to do that, here is what you can expect. Here is what I asked and this is what I received in less than 10 seconds- I typed in: Do you have creative ideas for an 80th birthday party?
Certainly! Here are some creative ideas for an 80th birthday party:
- Decade-Themed Party: Take the birthday person and guests on a trip through time by throwing a party that celebrates the decade they were born or have fond memories of. Decorate the venue with era-specific decorations, play music from that time, and encourage guests to dress up in period attire.
- “Through the Years” Photo Display: Create a photo display showcasing memorable moments from the person’s life. Gather pictures from different stages of their life, including childhood, milestones, and special events. Arrange them chronologically and display them at the party for guests to enjoy and reminisce.
- Video Montage: Collect video messages and well wishes from family, friends, and loved ones, and create a touching video montage. Compile the messages into a heartfelt video presentation that can be played during the party, bringing joy and warm wishes to the birthday person.
- Outdoor Picnic: If the weather permits, organize a charming outdoor picnic. Set up picnic blankets, comfortable seating, and decorations in a scenic location like a park or garden. Serve delicious picnic-style food, play lawn games, and enjoy the natural surroundings.
- Celebrity Look-Alikes: Hire a few professional celebrity look-alikes who resemble famous figures from the birthday person’s favorite era or from their lifetime. It can be a fun surprise for the guests and a unique way to add entertainment to the party.
- Memory Jar: Set up a memory jar where guests can write down their favorite memories, well wishes, or funny anecdotes about the birthday person. These notes can be collected and presented as a keepsake to the celebrant, allowing them to relive cherished moments long after the party.
Remember, the most important aspect of the party is to make the birthday person feel loved, celebrated, and surrounded by their closest family and friends. Tailor the celebration to their interests and preferences, and incorporate personal touches that reflect their life’s journey.
I stopped it at this point, even though there were more options offered. I feel amazed, distressed, worried and excited about this new option for human communication. But I do not feel terrified…yet. A recent study reported that 42% of CEOs at a Yale CEO Summit said that Artificial Intelligence could destroy humanity in five years. I don’t know who these CEOs are, and I am sure we will need to put some pretty strict regulations and guidelines around these new tools, but I don’t think the human race is doomed.
In fact, the latest study on AI in Science Magazine, showed that the use of AI increased productivity and job satisfaction significantly. Workers did things faster and were happier about the result. In medicine, diagnosis of disease may be more accurate and faster. Radiologists looking at x-rays make mistakes; AI may reduce those errors. If you are interested, this Substack analysis on this topic by Eric Topol is worth reading.
I do think there will be job loss and new jobs created. I think teachers will have to learn new ways to determine whether students are using ChatGPT to write their essays. They may have to think of new ways to grade students, like requiring hands-on projects to demonstrate competence, but the old “write an essay” may no longer be relevant or even helpful. I do worry about the future of spelling or grammar or the ability of an individual to put together a coherent argument when a machine can do it better and faster. I do not think it’s the end of life on earth as we know it. But it is going to come faster and quicker than we have anticipated.
In the meantime, try out ChatGPT – https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt – play with it, try different questions. Some will provide satisfying answers. Other answers may be too generic, bland, inaccurate or even just not helpful at all. The more specific you are in your questions, the better the answer will be. For example, in my example of a birthday party for an 80 year old, I could have asked ChatGPT to design a party for a person in a wheelchair or a person with a specific interest like gardening or baseball. The answer would have been more helpful, no doubt.
When we first started using Google to answer our many questions, it took awhile before we could figure out how to ask Google or Siri or Alexa questions in a way that would get us the answers we needed. The main difference between those tools and what we will see soon is speed of response and accuracy of the information. We will also need to be more skeptical than ever about what we read and see. Are we being given “verifiable” facts or is someone just telling us it’s the truth even if it is not.
Stay tuned. This topic is not going away.