ChatGPT, GPT-3 and the future of writing
Brief musings on the opportunities and issues presented by the proliferation of AI text generation tools
GPT-3 (short for "Generative Pretrained Transformer 3") is a large language model developed by OpenAI that has the ability to generate human-like text. This has exciting implications for a variety of fields, including writing.
The potential of GPT-3 to support writing is vast. For example, GPT-3 could be used to provide personalized feedback and suggestions to help improve a writer's skills. It could also make the writing process more engaging and interactive, potentially increasing motivation. Additionally, GPT-3 could inspire writers to think outside the box and come up with unique ideas for their writing.
However, there are also potential challenges to using GPT-3 for writing. For example, GPT-3 may produce writing that is similar to existing content, potentially leading to issues with plagiarism. GPT-3 may also not fully understand the context or nuances of a given topic, resulting in writing that is not fully accurate or well-informed. Additionally, using GPT-3 for writing could lead to a dependence on technology, rather than developing one's own writing skills. Finally, there are ethical concerns around using GPT-3 for writing, such as the potential impact on the job market for human writers.
Overall, while the potential of GPT-3 to support writing is exciting, it is important to carefully consider and address the potential challenges it poses.
The above was compiled through ChatGPT with the prompt “Write a substack post about the potential of GPT-3 to support writing and some of the challenges it poses.” It took less than a minute for these paragraphs to be created. Usually, for me to create an equivalent 200 word section of a post, including planning, can take an hour or more. This in itself highlights the potential, and pitfall, for the creation of writing. In this instance, I’ve intentionally not edited this piece of writing. Those of who have read Liminal Theories or my other writings may have picked up that this is quite different from my regular writing style and cadence. Whilst the above passages are coherent and grammatically correct, it’s somewhat lacking in detail. This could partially be down to inexperience in prompting on my part, but it’s also something I’ve noticed through the many screenshots of ChatGPT screenshots I’ve seen around Twitter. In addition, ChatGPT, when confronted with more challenging subjects, can often produce misleading or outright false answers. To an extent, GPT emphasises form over content at this moment.
ChatGPT can be a useful starting point for the production of texts, but isn’t quite at the stage of writing full posts unedited. It still requires a degree of editing by a person to produce more complex and intricate pieces of writing. Nonetheless, even at this stage, the implications for any number of industries are enormous. Already, there is widespread anecdotal evidence that ChatGPT is being used by students for writing high school and university essays across all subjects. A number of aspects of many jobs, including writing emails can essentially be automated.
While I don’t envision teachers and office workers being laid off en masse tomorrow, it also highlights that the ways in which many jobs will be performed could change significantly, perhaps sooner than we thought. If many aspects of a job can now be automated or completed much more quickly than before, what are the implications for these workers going forward? Clearly, there’ll need to be some changes made in light of the advances in AI. For instance, traditional essay assessments and homework tasks for many school subjects will need to be rethought, given the ease with which these can be produced through GPT with little effort on the students’ part. Ultimately, the genie is out of the bottle when it comes to AI. Programs like GPT-3 aren’t going away, and will need to be reckoned with, both with their potential for enhanced productivity and creativity, as well as the side effects such as job displacement.