ChatGPT and Ethics

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What’s in today’s article?

  • Why in news?
  • What is ChatGPT?
  • How does it work?
  • Where is it used mostly?
  • Are there any ethical issues surrounding the use of ChatGpt?

 

Why in news?

  • Ever since the ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot, was made public, users have been testing the bot’s capability to do nefarious things.
  • This has raised concerns among intellectuals as there are many ways in which such a tool could be exploited or used for unethical purposes. 

 

What is ChatGPT?

  • ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art natural language processing (NLP) model developed by OpenAI. 
    • NLP is the ability of a computer program to understand human language as it is spoken and written -- referred to as natural language. 
    • It is a component of artificial intelligence (AI).
  • It is a variant of the popular GPT-3 (Generative Pertained Transformer 3) model, which has been trained on a massive amount of text data to generate human-like responses to a given input.
  • The answers provided by this chatbot are intended to be technical and free of jargon.
  • It can provide responses that sound like human speech, enabling natural dialogue between the user and the virtual assistant.

 

How does it work?

  • ChatGPT uses a neural network architecture and unsupervised learning to generate responses. 
    • Other traditional models rely on explicitly created rules and labelled data.
  • This means that it can learn to generate responses without needing to be explicitly told what is the correct response.
  • This makes it a powerful tool for handling a wide range of conversational tasks.
  • One of the key features of ChatGPT is its ability to generate responses that are consistent with the context of the conversation. 
    • The model is able to understand the flow of the conversation and generate responses that fit naturally with what has been said previously.

 

Where is it used mostly?

  • In addition to generating responses, ChatGPT is also capable of performing a range of other tasks, such as language translation, text summarisation, and sentiment analysis.
  • ChatGPT’s advanced capabilities will be a valuable asset for companies in fields such as customer service, online education, and market research.
  • It can respond to a large range of questions while imitating human speaking styles, e.g., answering customer service queries, help debug a code, etc.
  • It is being seen as a replacement for the basic emails, party planning lists, CVs, and even college essays and homework.
  • It can also do creative tasks such as writing a story and can explain scientific concepts and answer any question that needs factual answers.
  • ChatGPT is much more than a chat bot. For example, it can be asked to write a program or even a simple software application.
  • It is also capable of reviewing and writing codes in seconds, making the future of coders grim.

 

Are there any ethical issues surrounding the use of ChatGpt?

  • Malicious code generator
    • Recently, many users claimed the chatbot helped them write malicious code.
    • Although, ChatGPT, is programmed to block obvious requests to write phishing emails or code for hackers. 
    • However, the more seasoned hackers could trick the bot into correcting or enhancing malicious code they have partially developed.
    • They could get through the system by phrasing their request in an innocuous way.

 

Impact on written assignments

  • Teachers and academicians have also expressed concerns over ChatGPT’s impact on written assignments. 
  • They note that the bot could be used to turn in plagiarised essays that could be hard to detect for invigilators due to lack of time.
  • The use of ChatGpt raises questions about how individuals will identify AI-generated content that others might pass off as their original work.

 

Quick spread of misinformation and fraud

  • The chatbot is capable of generating authentic-sounding news reports that were filled with misinformation.
  • This could easily take a dark turn, with users exploiting ChatGPT to spread fake news and instigate violence against minorities.

 

Racial and sexist biases

  • The ChatGPT displayed racial and sexist biases, which remains a problem with almost all AI models.

 

Conclusion

  • ChatGPT is an effective technology that has the power to change how we teach and learn thoroughly.
  • However, there are nearly infinite ways in which such a tool could be exploited or used for unethical purposes. Hence, it remains to be seen how ChatGPT will be used in the coming years.
  • The safeguards and entry barriers put into place before the official release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT needs to be upgraded regularly to deny the unethical requests.
  • Also, educators must think through the different types of prompts to best assess students to help them stay away from using ChatGPT is important.

 


Q1) What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

 Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. The term may also be applied to any machine that exhibits traits associated with a human mind such as learning and problem-solving.

 

Q2) What is Natural Language Processing (NLP)?

 Natural language processing (NLP) refers to the branch of computer science—and more specifically, the branch of artificial intelligence or AI—concerned with giving computers the ability to understand text and spoken words in much the same way human beings can.

 


Source: Explained | Does ChatGPT have an ethics problem? | The Hindu | Forbes India