ChatGPT is currently the most popular topic in artificial intelligence. If we live in this era and we don’t want to hear about ChatGPT at all, it might be a good idea to change our minds.
ChatGPT is a tool from OpenAI in the form of a chat application that can provide various reasonable answers. You can ask various questions and get answers in a short time.
Want to ask about retirement investments? Sure. Want to ask about math lessons? Sure. Want to ask about how to plant a certain fruit tree? You can. Even ChatGPT can be asked about programming languages and can provide suitable coding examples. ChatGPT can also provide explanations for difficult-to-understand coding lines.
My youngest daughter Vivian and I once asked ChatGPT to make a story about a house on the edge of a forest, and ChatGPT could make an interesting story about a house on the edge of a forest with a good and natural storyline.
Many of us in Indonesia refuse to know about technological developments or the latest trends. Some of us choose not to want to know, with reasons such as: “I’m not an IT person”, “I don’t understand that”, “I didn’t go to school…” and many other similar reasons.
But ChatGPT is not just about IT. ChatGPT is an IT product, but its use is not native to IT.
If we are parents who are often asked about homework by our school-age children and we have forgotten a lot about the subject, we can ask ChatGPT.
I often copy and paste math or science homework questions from Vavai and Vivian, and I can get answers or clues to the answers from ChatGPT.
If I am unsure about how to raise or plant something, I can ask ChatGPT for guidance on the process.
Unlike searching on Google or Bing, ChatGPT’s answers are already more structured, and we can read them directly.
I read some news that ChatGPT can’t do this or that. That ChatGPT can’t replace Search Engine. There is also worrying news about wrong answers or fake answers in ChatGPT. Search engine service executives reduce the presence of ChatGPT for a reason, “The answer cannot be accountable.”
Even colleagues compare ChatGPT’s accuracy with what it should be and that ChatGPT can give wrong answers.
And that is where, in my opinion, the critical point and the starting point of our perspective on technology or progress lies.
In short, there are two types of perspectives on technology and progress, namely pessimistic and optimistic perspectives.
Pessimistic people will always look for weaknesses and drawbacks of technology or progress. That ChatGPT has these and those weaknesses, that there are still many shortcomings here and there, that there are still many answers that are less accurate, and so on.
The reasons for this pessimistic consideration can vary. It could be because of a real analysis result, but it could also be based on a feeling of worry or feeling threatened.
If you are a teacher or lecturer and enjoy providing theoretical material, your students can easily provide comprehensive answers with the help of ChatGPT. As a teacher or lecturer, you might feel that ChatGPT is a threat and prohibit the use of ChatGPT to answer questions or homework.
If you work as a writer or journalist and feel that you have enough experience, you might feel that ChatGPT will not be able to replace your work because ChatGPT is just a machine without a sense of human interest, so stories, writings, books, or reviews written using ChatGPT will not be able to match the quality of manually written ones.
However, similar comments were also heard when digital cameras first appeared that the quality of photos using digital cameras is not as good as the quality of analog cameras. That no matter what, analog cameras are still superior to digital cameras in every way.
If we look now, what percentage of the market share do analog cameras have compared to digital cameras?
Personally, I prefer to be optimistic about technological developments and progress. Optimistic that progress can have a positive impact on the ease of life. This optimism does not mean turning a blind eye to existing shortcomings. We realize that everything new is likely to have shortcomings, but we must also realize that these shortcomings do not negate their positive benefits.
I prefer to “ride the technology” rather than be a victim of technology. I choose to see the positive benefits of technology and progress and think about their potential benefits for life and work.
Like it or not, progress will happen; in other words, “No matter whether you love or hate the technology, it exists, and it’s been here.”
Jack Ma said, “When there were steam engines, many people were afraid that their traditional jobs would be taken over. When there was electricity, many people were afraid of losing their jobs. Yes, job loss did happen. Yes, some people’s traditional jobs were taken over. But there were also many more new job opportunities created by that new technology…”
Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish. Keep the spirit up.
