In less than a month, it had more than a million users. By January, that number leapt to more than 100 million, making it the fastest-growing user application in such a short time frame.
What does it do? In the same way that Google can answer questions, ChatGPT can write music and computer programs, draw pictures, answer tests and write essays, among other things.
One thing I have noticed in the very little time I have used ChatGPT is the complex and creative way in which it can deliver content with very little information.
So, this begs the question — will this technology remove jobs? The answer is probably, but much in the same way as combine harvesters removed the need for cutting grain by hand, or ATMs did away with bank tellers or parking machines negated the use of parking attendants.
It won’t remove jobs altogether and that is what is key.
Technology has continued to change and improve people’s lives at lightning speed.
As a recruiter, I still like to write my own job adverts, but I may now use ChatGPT for support to do this. Why not, if it helps make my working life easier?
I do not see a real threat to jobs from AI — instead, people should embrace technology wherever it can enhance their lives.
The need for trained computer programmers, data scientists, software engineers and the whole IT ecosystem around AI is only going to grow.
So, it is more important for the younger generation to arm themselves with technology skills — and it looks like ChatGPT will enable them to do that.
We need to remember that every so often, a new type of AI tech will come into the spotlight, with some championing the opportunity that it brings and others raising concerns — particularly in the form of computers taking the jobs of humans.
The reality is that AI has been around since the 1950s and is here to stay.
Some of the earliest uses of the technology were in video games, where people were able to “play against the computer”.
In 1997, Garry Kasparov became the first grandmaster to be beaten by AI in the form of IBM’s chess-playing computer Deep Blue.
Although not very happy at the time, 25 years later, Kasparov has made peace with the loss and sees the positives in human-machine collaboration.
Millions around the world have made use of AI and not even realised it, such as when ATM machines began reading handwritten cheques in the 1980s, removing the need for people to visit a branch.
This is a good example of AI improving business efficiency and removing the need for humans in mundane tasks.
This technology is here to stay and will keep advancing.
There have already been concerns raised about students cheating with their homework, as well as from politicians and journalists who see the technology as a threat to the manipulation of facts.
But these concerns have been around ever since the internet became widely accessible and the world took up social media.
I do not see a real threat to jobs from AI — instead, people should embrace technology wherever it can enhance their lives
John Armstrong
As a tech headhunter for more than 20 years, I am confident that AI will not take my job away.
Having the right tools and algorithms in the software that I use daily will help me to carry out my tasks more efficiently.
I also do not miss using a fax machine or a Rolodex (if you can remember those), but there is no replacement for human intuition or real-life experience.
Ultimately, AI is an enabler, not a threat — and I am interested to see how this enhances our day-to-day lives and the jobs that we do in the coming months and years.
John Armstrong is founder and managing director of recruitment agency JCA Associates.
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Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash
Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.
Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.
Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.
Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.
Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
