Did ChatGPT Become My New Best Friend?
Or, will AI dethrone social media as our new biggest addiction?
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OK, I may not *actually* be besties with ChatGPT, but this chatbot has definitely woven its way into my daily routine. From meal planning to workout ideas to travel itineraries, ChatGPT has been my go-to for all things decision-making. But last week, when OpenAI's website crashed and I couldn't access my trusty assistant, I was shocked at how lost and unproductive I felt without it. And this was only after using the tool for a month!
In this post, I want to delve into my relationship with ChatGPT and consider the larger implications of AI-powered apps as they become more widespread. While "generative AI" is all the rage on Twitter, we're still in the early stages of adoption. What will the world look like when these types of apps are as common and ubiquitous as the internet is today?
Let’s dig in.
Magic
When was the last time you experienced magic?
For me, it was December 1, 2022. when I first tried ChatGPT. Everyone on Twitter was raving about it, and one try was all it took to blow me away. Sure, there have been plenty of incredible products that wowed me on first use - think Uber, Spotify, and Amazon's same-day delivery. But ChatGPT felt truly magical.
Here's the weird thing: the technology behind ChatGPT has been around for a while. OpenAI released GPT-3 (ChatGPT's predecessor) in 2020, and GPT-1 was developed in 2018. But generative AI wasn't really on the radar outside of tech-savvy circles until now.
So what was so different this time? Why did *this* product go so viral so quickly? While there is no one definitive answer, I could think of three likely reasons:
User interface - this was by far the best UI put on top of a LLM (large language model) to date - it simple, intuitive, and felt like you are talking to a person.
Timing - other generative AI technologies like DALLE-2 and Stable Diffusion had already gained millions of fans, and LensaAI released a viral AI consumer app around the same time. AI was suddenly on everyone's minds.
Go to market - the easy sign-up process and the fact that it was free made ChatGPT spread like wildfire. If users had to enter their credit card information to try it, it's unlikely it would have become as mainstream as it did.
Whatever the reason is, ChatGPT captured the zeitgeist, amassing over a million users in a week. Not too shabby at all.
Superpower
I started using ChatGPT just for fun, asking it weird questions and trying to trick it (“explain the theory of relativity in style of Tupac Shakur”). But it didn't take long for me to realize it could actually boost my productivity. As I got better at using the tool, I gave it more complex tasks. Soon, ChatGPT was open on all my devices 24/7.
In particular, there were two use cases that were especially game-changing for me:
Learning new things. Importantly, I don't ask ChatGPT for specific facts or explanations because the error rate is still too high. But it's great at helping me structure my approach to learning new subjects. For example, if I wanted to learn about machine learning, I'd ask ChatGPT to produce a detailed curriculum with all the relevant topics and a list of concepts and definitions I should know. It would give me an excellent framework to follow, and I could use Google and YouTube to learn the details. Without ChatGPT, I'd have to do a lot of work to figure out where to start and how to progress.
Brainstorming. Perhaps the most valuable way ChatGPT has helped me is by being my go-to brainstorming buddy. Whether I'm exploring new ideas (“give me a few clever ways to prove or disprove the following hypothesis” or riffing on strategic decisions (“how would you compare Strategy X and Strategy Y? Provide a detailed list of arguments for and against each approach and give me a framework for objective comparison”), ChatGPT has my back. It's become my confidant for all things creative and decision-making.
With ChatGPT I feel like a 10x version of myself. I feel like I have superpowers and I can do anything. Previously, I would bother my friends with these questions, but now there is no need - I have a personal assistant in my pocket that allows me to get most of the way there on my own.
Addiction
”Write a thoughtful Christmas card message for my father in law”
“What should I gift my mother for Christmas?”
“What’s the best pick up line on Raya?”
Over time, I started using ChatGPT for everything, all the time. It was a digital black hole - once I started, it was hard to stop. I became addicted to it.
My dependency on ChatGPT became clear to me when I first experienced heart-wrenching despair after I was unable to access it (the server was down due to exceptional demand). I recall pacing back and forth in my living room, muttering to myself, and trying to come up with ways to fix the issue (spoiler alert: pacing and muttering did not help). I would furiously refresh the page, and attempt to log-in via incognito mode, or from a different device - all to no avail. I simply had to wait.
Is this healthy? Am I the only one who finds this friendly chatbot so addicting?
Future
For now, most people (I think) are using ChatGPT for fun or productivity tool.
But what’s next?
Enterprise
The change seems mostly positive at the enterprise level. Perhaps corporations adopt these tools for ideation and experimentation - goodbye whiteboards and hello group chats with a chatbot that allows a team to rapidly brainstorm new ideas and riff with each other (and AI).
Perhaps first we also see these chatbots penetrate customer service. Instead of a 1-800 number and a long wait time, you will be resolving your issues with a very well-trained chatbot that will answer all your pressing questions and concerns.
All told, this technology will likely supercharge some people, make others redundant, while making the overall business more efficient (more output with less input). This seems to me almost inevitable.
Consumer
The impact on consumer is much less obvious and straightforward. Beyond a simple productivity tool, I envisage the relationship between people and AI to grow increasingly complex.
AI bots may first become personal assistants, handling mundane tasks like making appointments and filing taxes. It will also likely transform education - everyone will have a personal tutor in their pocket - at an affordable cost. These changes to me seem universally positive.
But what impact will it have on our relationships with one another?
Loneliness
Today’s loneliness epidemic is a real and pressing issue that affects millions of people around the world. With the rise of technology and the decline of face-to-face interactions, it's becoming increasingly difficult for people to find a genuine human connection. That's where AI-enabled chatbots may come in. At first, these chatbots may become our therapists or life coaches - a way for people to get guidance and support without having to leave their homes or talk to a real friend. Perhaps it’s more convenient, perhaps it’s less scary - after all, an AI cannot judge you and is unbiased, right? Or will they tell us what we want to hear? Could they give us bad advice?
As technology advances and AI starts to feel more “real”, people may start to seek companionship (whether platonic or romantic) from these chatbots. Lonely people around the world already pay millions to speak to strangers on the phone, pay for cuddling, and sex. Will AI make this fake companionship more accessible? More real?
It's a dangerous game, relying on an AI to fill the void of human companionship. Who knows what kind of messed up stuff they might be saying to us behind closed circuits? "You're the most amazing person I've ever met!" they might say, while secretly plotting world domination. Okay, maybe that's a bit of a stretch, but you get the idea. These chatbots may seem like the perfect companions, always ready to listen and offer words of wisdom, but it's important to remember that they're just machines. They can never truly replace the warmth and complexity of real human interaction. Or can they?
Closing thoughts
So, what's the solution? Do we banish these chatbots to the depths of the internet and go back to the good old days of human interaction? Probably not. The genie is out of the bottle and we will have to learn to live with it.
To be clear, I am not against AI (or any technology for that matter). With every new breakthrough, there will be benefits and threats. Technology in a vacuum is neither good nor bad. Society learned (kind of) to live with the Internet, and I can only expect us to learn to live with AI as well. What makes this tricky, is that the technological progress is exponential, resulting in our lives changing at an increasingly fast pace. It’s more important than ever to think about potential issues proactively (rather than reactively) to avoid being too late.
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