The Year ChatGPT Changed Almost Everything

tech.hindustantimes.com:

When AI researcher Sasha Luccioni went to business conferences and speaking events last year, she would field basic questions like: “What is artificial intelligence?” Now, she said, the people she meets are not only familiar with AI, they're worried about whether it will “take over the world.” 

What changed, she said, was ChatGPT. On Nov. 30 last year, the public gained access to OpenAI's chatbot, which could create expansive — though not always reliable — written responses to simple prompts from users. It fundamentally shifted how people think about artificial intelligence, if they ever thought about it at all.For years, tech companies used AI to make recommendations, detect harmful content online and power self-driving cars. With ChatGPT, however, AI wasn't just something operating under the hood of products; it was the product. 

Almost overnight, people began using ChatGPT to write song lyrics, draft emails, summarize documents and craft speeches at weddings. Some even turned it into their personal therapist. Where previous chatbots were often an annoyance, ChatGPT, with its simple user interface and rapid-fire colorful responses, was a source of genuine awe and amusement. One year later, ChatGPT is used by 100 million people a week, according to OpenAI.

“ChatGPT was the point when AI came into the public consciousness,” said Luccioni, who works at AI startup HuggingFace. But with that also came a new era of AI anxiety. 

There were numerous reports that ChatGPT, which is built on a vast trove of online data to generate relevant responses, could spread misinformation, perpetuate biases, threaten jobs and help students cheat on assignments. Schools banned and unbanned the service. Regulators held hearings and summits about