AI has been around for some time. The term was originally coined by John McCarthy way back in 1956 and meant Artificial Intelligence. The terminology remained the same until some time back, when India PM Mr. Narendra Modi redefined the term as “America-India” to stress on the strong partnerships that two countries have. Now, there is a new kid on the block, called ChatGPT. It has redefined the term AI as “Automated Information” and lots of that.
What is ChatGPT?
GPT stands for “Generative Pre-trained Transformer” and it uses deep learning to generate human-like responses to text-based prompts. It’s the most powerful chatbot built to date and can answer virtually any question you ask it. It falls under a general category of tools called “Generative AI”. Generative AI allows users to create an endless variety of content ranging from texts, audio, software code to virtual worlds. ChatGPT was introduced in November 2022 and as of date, it has more than 100 million users. Compare it with the fact that internet took 7 years to reach 100 million users, mobile phones took 16 years, twitter took 5 years and WhatsApp took 3.5 years to reach the same numbers. So, this is something that nobody can ignore. But what are the actual uses of ChatGPT?
Use cases of ChatGPT
The very nature of being able to generate useful information lends itself very useful to any field that relies on having information available at the fingertips. Many are touting this as an alternative to Google search, but generative AI is more than that. Google search consolidates all the publicly available information and presents to the users based on the keywords user has typed; it does not generate information. On the other hand, ChatGPT, because of the very nature of generative AI algorithms, can generate information for the users. It can draft an email; it can prepare a marketing message; it can find bugs in a code; it can solve academic questions for you and so on. However, most practical use cases of ChatGPT lie in following 6 areas –
1. Customer Service
2. Sales and Marketing
3. Software Development
4. Workflow management
5. Creating content
6. Research
Expedia has integrated ChatGPT to introduce a chatbot that can plan trips for you (Customer Service). Octopus energy has built ChatGPT into their customer services (Customer Service). Coca Cola is working with a consulting company to introduce personalized customer experiences (Sales and Marketing). Microsoft is using ChatGPT to power its search engine Bing(Software Development). The coders at Freshworks are using ChatGPT to develop complex software programs in much lesser time (Software Development). Slack has created an app using ChatGPT to manage workflows and increase productivity (Workflow management). Udacity has used ChatGPT to create a virtual tutor (Creating content). And examples keep counting.
Which Industries can use this?
Obviously as ChatGPT is a technology product, tech companies are first to use in their applications. Some examples such as Microsoft, slack etc. are already mentioned. Behind them are three different kinds of industries.
First is the type of industries that have already accumulated or deal with large volumes of data. Primary examples are pharmaceuticals companies, insurance firms and other financial institutions. Mastercard has introduced a chatbot using ChatGPT. Allstate has done the same. Massive Bio, a biotech company headquartered in New York has integrated ChatGPT in its workflow of clinical trials. Pfizer has integrated ChatGPT to automate the process of literature review in drug discovery and implementation. AstraZeneca has used ChatGPT in the design of clinical trials, recruitment of patients and analyzing the datasets produced.
Second is the type of industry that has already had to change their business models completely because of the new advancements in technology. The immediate example that comes to mind is retail industry. A major shoe retailer is using ChatGPT to create a multilingual chatbot that helps customers in enquiries about sizing, returns and shipping policies. Next in line is the hospitality industry. Expedia’s about 5 million monthly users are communicating with the Chatbot built on ChatGPT platform.
The third type of industries are those who are focused on integrating the latest technologies in their product portfolio such as carmakers. Leaders like Tesla and GM have already announced plans to integrate ChatGPT in their self-driving cars. Others will follow.
There are also multiple industries that will soon integrate ChatGPT for their business processes.
What are the concerns?
However powerful the tool can be, it is never devoid of some technical, practical, ethical and security concerns. Like any AI model, ChatGPT is as good as data it has been trained on and the quality of the that data. Uploading lots of data into ChatGPT is fraught with risks of data breaches. That is especially true of data sensitive industries such as pharmaceuticals. And last but not least, we always have the concern of losing many human jobs when ChatGPT automates the process of customer services, data entry, literature reviews etc.
Growth predictions
As the power and adoption of ChatGPT continues into the economy, it has deep implications for us as users. One example is in the field of personalized medicine. ChatGPT will allow the development of very personalized treatments based on individual’s profile. There are several other areas where ChatGPT will turn existing business models on its’ head. Companies will look for increased investments in the AI space so that they are not left behind. A Gartner poll published in May 2023 found that 45% of around 2500 executives said that they are increasing investments in AI. The patent scene will also keep on increasing. Another research firm concluded that a quarter of the deal by venture funds were in companies working in AI. Exciting times ahead!
The views expressed in this piece are solely by the author and none of the author’s current or past organizations have any responsibility for those views.
