ChatGPT popularity has not decreased, but has increased in the past 6 months
The release of OpenAI's ChatGPT on November 30 last year marked the beginning of an explosion of generative artificial intelligence that continues to disrupt the tech industry six months later. Conversational AI has been transformed into a portal for online information, a powerful computing interface, a platform for a new tool and business, a source of companionship and psychological support, and a valuable resource for coders. However, it has also sparked debate about its impact on job creation and elimination, its potential to spread misinformation, its amplification of bias, its susceptibility to cyberattacks and fraud, its tendency to erode the truth, and even its hypothetical threat to human survival.
Despite concerns surrounding ChatGPT and similar technologies, a recent Pew survey conducted in March revealed that the majority of U.S. adults have heard of ChatGPT, with 14 percent having already tried it. Although this percentage represents only a small percentage of the population, it shows that ChatGPT has gained traction in a shorter period of time than other transformative technologies such as the iPhone or web browser.
Let's take a look at the key events that have taken place in the AI revolution over the past 6 months:
November 30, 2022:
OpenAI launched ChatGPT as a "free research preview." Axios reports that the technology is impressive.
December 2022:
Google has been developing a similar technology, but concealed it for fear of potential harm, announcing a "code red" for the release of OpenAI. Professors and teachers have issued warnings about cheating with ChatGPT.
January 2023:
Microsoft announced a massive $10 billion investment in OpenAI, demonstrating its commitment to advances in AI technology.
February 2023:
OpenAI launched ChatGPT+ as a paid service, and Microsoft integrated the chatbot with Bing Search. Users of Bing Chat stumbled upon remnants of a former test character named "Sydney" in the system, leading journalists to express concern about the erratic behavior of Bing Chat.
March 2023:
OpenAI released a new ChatGPT API and unveiled a more advanced base model called GPT-4. In addition, OpenAI has launched plugins that enable chatbots to connect with various online services and explore the web. Google, meanwhile, offered access to its own chatbot, called Bard. A group of tech leaders, including Elon Musk, signed an open letter advocating a six-month "pause" in training new large-scale language models, arguing that the rapid development of AI poses an existential risk.
April 2023:
The Ministry of Commerce has taken initial steps to develop regulations for artificial intelligence. An AI-generated song with a voice reminiscent of Drake and Weeknd, went viral on the web but was later removed from the streaming service. These events are a reminder that the wave of generative AI extends beyond text to other mediums such as images, audio, and video.
May 2023:
OpenAI released a ChatGPT iPhone app, extending it to mobile users. OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, testified before a congressional subcommittee advocating for regulation of AI. In one notable incident, an American lawyer was reprimanded by a judge for filing a complaint written by ChatGPT full of fabricated case references.
Admittedly, the foundations of ChatGPT and similar technologies have been laid for years. Companies like Microsoft are already testing early versions of OpenAI's large-scale language models, while Google, Meta and other entities are developing similar technologies. Still, once OpenAI released ChatGPT, its rapid transition from a research lab experiment to a mass phenomenon was remarkable.
At present, artificial intelligence is still in the early stages of development. This computationally intensive and expensive technology has the potential to cement the dominance of tech giants