A new special breed of AI has been making the news and hitting the headlines lately – chat generative bots. While the concept is not new, the ChatGPT bot developed by OpenAI managed to get over 100 million users in just two months after its launch in November 2022.

ChatGPT suddenly became the fastest-growing consumer app ever in such a short period of time but isn’t even available yet on the App or Play stores. However, recently ChatGPT has generated a lot of scepticism. Not only is the system prone to bias and spreading propaganda but some users have even received some unhinged and unsettling messages from the bot.

Cybersecurity experts Panda Security shed some light on what ChatGPT is and it’s features, flaws and risks.

What is ChatGPT?

Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer is a service is built on top of OpenAI Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3, which allows the bot to answer questions and generate text with delicate precision. ChatGPT can be human like and be used to write essays, create recipes, mimic famous authors, and code software.

How do you access it?

Even though the bot quickly gained over a hundred million users, a lot of people still wonder how to access it. The bot is unavailable as an app that users can download from the usual app stores powered by Google and Apple. However, getting to know ChatGPT’s functions is pretty straightforward – all you have to do is visit the website, sign up, and start “chatting” with the artificial intelligence bot. Simple.

Does ChatGPT have any faults?

It’s important to remember that ChatGPT is not human, and users should never assume it is. Even though the content it generates may be engaging, ChatGPT’s responses might not be factually correct and can easily be manipulated. The content often isn’t unique, either. The developers behind the chatbot admit that the system is in its early stages and might generate incorrect or misleading information.

They also advise that the chatbot could generate offensive or biased content even though safeguards are in place. It’s important for users to remember that ChatGPT is not intended to give advice, nor does it provide fully reliable information… yet.

Why is ChatGPT a big deal?

It creates relatively good content fast. For example, users can ask the bot to write a poem, which will appear in less than 20 seconds. This raises the question if ChatGPT will challenge people’s jobs in the future, especially in industries that require content creation which the function could create almost instantly.

The OpenAI system also threatens Google as a search engine. With Google’s parent company Alphabet already making multiple moves to get up to speed with OpenAI so not to be left behind.

Is ChatGPT free?

The basic version of the service is free at the moment. However, OpenAI recently released a paid ChatGPT Plus version of the bot that requires a monthly $20 subscription.

Like many tech services with such fast growth, OpenAI will generate mass dependence on the system and will likely introduce usage fees. We’ve seen similar company behaviour from many big tech companies, like Netflix and Uber, so OpenAI seems to be going in this direction too.

What are the risks?

People with bad intentions can abuse the capabilities of ChatGPT. For example, as the service is prone to bias, users can use it to generate code for malicious purposes and create propaganda. It’s recently been reported that China has recently blocked ChatGPT on Chinese social media apps with fears that the service is a potential enabler for American propaganda.

Overall, no one knows how ChatGPT will change the world yet, but many believe that the system developed by OpenAir is here to stay. Therefore, it’s best to use the AI bot with caution and remember it’s not a human who you’re talking to.

Article provided by Panda Security.