Are chatbots replacing what we humans can do in terms of of writing and dialogue? Chatbots, applications of AI (Machine Learning) that mimic the responses of people in chat or dialogue have attracted a lot of attention recently with the release of ChatGPT for public testing. Chatbots have been around some time especially to maintain online interaction with customers, particularly in the retail sector. However their responses have often seemed limited, leading to frustration on the part of customers who have got a real problem to solve, and no human member of staff to talk to. It has been suggested that ChatGPT goes further, being able to deal with queries and discussion across a wide range of fields. We and many other people have tested it through through its research release by OpenAI.
At present it doesn’t appear complete. Further work needs to be done to make it more:
- specific (to the topic it is being asked to respond to)
- original (in the manner of how a human would respond to that topic)
- detailed (to the level appropriate for that topic)
- attributative (to sources that may have been used in training and which a human author writing about that topic would be expected to refer.)
Maybe the name ChatGPT gives it away? Chat between people can be very brief and very unoriginal. But ChatGPT is marketed as a major advance and many journalists have decided that it is the major advance.
Can it replace people concerned with writing and editing? No, not yet, get in touch.
Can it end further innovation on chatbots for specialised purposes? No, not yet, get in touch.