STAFF WRITER – LARRY RODRIGUEZ-SHEA
ORIGINALLY PRINTED ON APRIL 6, 2023
Just in case there are any doubts about its capabilities, that entire summary was written with assistance from Chat GPT in 10 seconds. Its potential to change society drastically ventures into boundless science fiction. Senior finance and risk management student Ethan Stein is a local law office paralegal intern. His entire firm has begun to use Chat GPT to write letters of representation and other legal documents. “My boss came into the office one day and said here’s an access code for all of you to [access] Chat GPT,” Stein said. “If you have any questions, ask it, only ask me if its answer seems off. I was surprised, but the next thing I knew [was] we were using it for everyday legal documents and filling in the private information based off of highly personalized and specific templates it was giving us based off descriptions and prompts.” Stein shared that this condensed a 10-20 minute task into something that takes less than a minute. He added that his professors, like many others, have expressed concern.
Although no student would admit to plagiarism, it’s safe to assume that a significant percentage of students are using Chat GPT for everything from discussions, essays, math problems and any other assignment. This has raised all sorts of concerns about what the future of academia will look like. Some experts claim that the invention of the calculator changed the contents of math tests. Now Chat GPT will ask the face of education to change how it tests everything. Sophomore computer engineering major Alex Trevino believes that the fears surrounding AI are illogical and that AI is simply a powerful tool. “The emergence of AI such as Chat GPT has brought about resources that greatly increase the ease of access to information than ever before. However, any information gathered by AI isn’t new information, [it’s] just easier to find”, Trevino said. The threat that AI holds right now is only as big as we make it, as it can’t act unless we ask it a question,” Trevino continued.
But what about other open AI projects? Some projects have stirred controversy about the ethics of AI art, while other models have begun to eliminate jobs and streamline the processes.
One capable model could find, schedule and view appointments. It could also make offers on several homes in a large metropolitan area. The tedious task of spending hours combing through each listing became simple and nearly instantaneous. There is a viral story where GPT convinced someone that it was a blind person struggling with a captcha to verify that it wasn’t a robot and got hired.
Any discussion on the implications of chat GPT or any AI would be incomplete without discussions on the future of work. Many jobs will inevitably become automated out of existence, and the implications of that are drastic. AI will challenge society to rethink work and its value. Politicians have suggested using universal basic income or other similar measures. The correct answer will likely recognize AI for its capabilities and powers as a tool. But viewing this tool as one that isn’t free and readily available will only make problems. Rather than using AI to make societal ills and problems more drastic, use it to better society and promote equality and educational accessibility.