A chatbot built by Artificial Intelligence (AI) company OpenAI is as smart as a high court lawyer.
AI research and development company OpenAI’s chatbot trailed humans by 17 per cent in the Bar Exam set by researchers from Chicago Kent College of Law, Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, and the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics.
Researchers believe the next version of ChatGPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer), version 4 due for release this year, will surpass its performance.
Version 3.5 exceeded expectations and scored passing grades in the Torts and Evidence categories.
We asked ChatGPT to write an editorial about itself for the Tech Talk Column of Waikato Business News.
This is what it produced: “ChatGPT is a powerful language generation model that has the ability to understand and respond to natural language input. Developed by OpenAI, this AI model is trained on a massive amount of data and can generate human-like text in a wide range of contexts.
“In recent years, ChatGPT has been used in various applications such as chatbots, virtual assistants, and automated content generation. The technology has the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with machines and automate repetitive tasks.
“One of the most striking features of ChatGPT is its ability to understand context and generate text that is appropriate for the given situation. This makes it an ideal tool for businesses that need to communicate with customers in a natural and human-like way. For example, a customer service chatbot powered by ChatGPT can provide personalized support and assistance to customers, thus reducing the need for human customer service representatives.
“Another potential application of ChatGPT is in content creation. The model can be trained to write articles, blog posts, and other types of content in a specific style and tone, which can save businesses a significant amount of time and resources. This is especially important in today's fast-paced digital world where keeping up with the latest trends and providing fresh content is essential to maintaining a strong online presence.
“However, it's important to note that ChatGPT is not a substitute for human creativity and critical thinking. The AI model can generate text based on the data it has been trained on, but it is not capable of original thinking or understanding complex ideas and emotions. Therefore, while ChatGPT can be a valuable tool for businesses, it should be used in conjunction with human expertise and oversight.
“In conclusion, ChatGPT is a cutting-edge AI technology that has the potential to transform the way businesses interact with customers and create content. While the technology is still in its infancy, it holds great promise and businesses should explore how they can incorporate it into their operations.”
Impressive, and extremely useful.
Less impressive is ChatGPT’s ability to deliver simple facts. A four-paragraph history of Appuldurcombe House, Isle of Wight, contained no less than five factual errors. When questioned about the errors by a subject matter expert, it was able to correct them.
AI has come a long way in the last year, but still has a long way to go.
- Chris Gardner is communications manager at Waikato software specialist Company-X and a historian.