AI enthusiasts are constantly experimenting with new technologies, developing “bots” to perform different functions or assist with varied tasks. Most of the time, these bots are strictly the province of insiders; if you’re not actively following the world of AI development, you never hear about them.

But now, there’s a powerful bot that has breached wider consciousness, and even prompted some questions about the future of online search. It’s called ChatGPT, and it comes from a powerful AI developer called OpenAI. The bot has generated a lot of buzz and online fervor, and it’s easy to understand why. You can ask ChatGPT questions using natural language, and the bot will supply you with a fairly conversational (though at times a bit stiff) answer. ChatGPT will even remember the thread of previous conversations and will draw from its “memories” of past interactions to answer your questions with greater clarity. All of the answers provided are drawn from the endless reserves of the Internet itself; in this sense, ChatGPT works similarly to, say, a Google search.

Already, millions of people are using ChatGPT. As such, it’s important for marketing professionals to know a little bit about this technology’s promise…and its limitations.

What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT was launched last November, and its purpose is to demonstrate the power and utility of a truly robust AI system. You can ask it any question, and much of the time you’ll get an answer that’s helpful, relevant, and accurate. You can ask it a basic knowledge question (e.g., who was the fourteenth President of the United States?), but you can also ask it to write you a poem or to rearrange all the letters in a given word. The possibilities aren’t endless, exactly, but they are certainly vast.

Here, a crucial distinction is in order: ChatGPT doesn’t actually “know” anything. It is not, in and of itself, an information source. Instead, it’s programmed to comb the Web, harvest information, and present an answer that it perceived to be plausible and truthful. Again, there are obvious parallels to Google search. And just like with Google search, you may occasionally get an answer that’s off-target or inaccurate. (A warning from OpenAI notes that the program “may occasionally generate incorrect or misleading information.”)

What Makes ChatGPT Different?

Chatbots are nothing new, as many companies use them to field customer service inquiries on their websites. These chatbots can be useful, but they are also very basic, and many customers prefer to just avoid them. Clearly, ChatGPT is taking the AI field to a whole new plane of usability.

One of the things to distinguish ChatGPT is its more conversational nature, the way it can synthesize different queries and respond to your previous questions. For example, if you ask it for words that rhyme with “yellow,” it might provide you an answer and then ask if you’d like a similar list for the color “pink.”

Is Chat GPT Available for Free?

For now, you can use the chatbot free of charge. Be warned, however, that OpenAI is a for-profit company, and has already stated that they will need to monetize their program at some point in the future. The computing power costs needed for the program are surely astronomical!

What are the Drawbacks to ChatGPT?

Again, OpenAI has warned that the bot may provide wrong or misleading answers sometimes; to make matters worse, those answers will often appear to be plausible and authoritative. Sometimes the ChatGPT program will actually warn you of its limitations, noting uncertainty about its answer, but not always.

Indeed, it’s probably worth noting that the volume of right answers is low enough for OpenAI to warn against citing ChatGPT as an authoritative source. It’s probably best to double-check its answers with credible sources whenever possible. (Frankly, we’d say the same for Wikipedia and for Google.)

Are There Questions That ChatGPT Won’t Answer?

There are also some queries that ChatGPT simply won’t engage with. If you ask it about its own limitations, it will tell you that it can’t address requests “that are discriminatory, offensive, or inappropriate. This includes questions that are racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, or otherwise discriminatory or hateful.”

Additionally, ChatGPT won’t help you with any type of illegal activity.

Is This the Future?

There’s no question that ChatGPT represents a bold new frontier for AI, and for online search capabilities. It’s very easy to imagine it, or something like it, becoming a competitor to Google Search one day.

For now, we’d advise marketers to simply keep an ear to the ground, remaining in-the-know about ChatGPT’s capabilities. We’ll continue to provide updates to our clients as necessary.

In the meantime, if you have any questions about ChatGPT and its implications for your marketing strategy, don’t hesitate to contact enCOMPASS directly.

The above was written by one of our copywriters. Now, to better demonstrate ChatGPT, here is the same article written entirely with the ChatGPT AI. We used the prompt, “Write a 1000 word blog with the title 'What is ChatGPT? Your Questions, Answered.' The article should answer the following questions: 1)What is ChatGPT? 2)What Makes ChatGPT Different 3)Is ChatGPT Available for Free? 4)What are the Drawbacks or Limitations to ChatGPT? 5)Are There Questions that ChatGPT Won't Answer? 6)Is Chat GPT the Future? 7)What do marketers need to know about ChatGPT?" And away we go…

What is ChatGPT? Your Questions, Answered.

Have you heard of ChatGPT? If you haven't, this is the article for you! ChatGPT is a large language model developed by OpenAI, and it has been making waves in the AI community. Here, we'll answer some common questions about ChatGPT to help you understand what it is, how it works, and why it matters.

1. What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art language generation model that uses deep learning to generate human-like responses to natural language inputs. It was developed by OpenAI and is based on the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) architecture, which is a type of transformer neural network.

2. What Makes ChatGPT Different?

ChatGPT is different from other language models in a few key ways. Firstly, it is incredibly large, with 175 billion parameters. This gives it the ability to process and generate responses to a wide range of inputs, making it highly versatile.

Additionally, ChatGPT is pre-trained on a massive corpus of text data, which allows it to generate more accurate and contextually relevant responses. This pre-training also enables it to perform well even when it has never seen the specific input before, which is a major advantage over traditional rule-based systems.

3. Is ChatGPT Available for Free?

ChatGPT is not available for free, but OpenAI offers access to the model through its API, which allows developers to integrate it into their own applications and services. However, there is a cost associated with using the API, so it's not entirely free.

4. What are the Drawbacks or Limitations to ChatGPT?

As with any technology, there are some drawbacks and limitations to ChatGPT. One of the biggest limitations is that it is still an AI model and is not perfect. It may generate incorrect or irrelevant responses to certain inputs, especially if it has not been fine-tuned for a specific task.
Another limitation is that ChatGPT has a large carbon footprint, as training and running such a large model requires significant computational resources. Additionally, the model is developed by OpenAI and is not open source, which may limit its accessibility for some users.

5. Are There Questions That ChatGPT Won't Answer?

Yes, there are certain questions that ChatGPT won't answer. For example, it may not be able to provide answers to ethical or moral questions, as it is not programmed to make value judgments. Additionally, it may not be able to provide answers to questions that require specific knowledge that it hasn't been trained on.

6. Is ChatGPT the Future?

It is difficult to say for certain whether ChatGPT is the future, as technology and AI are constantly evolving. However, it is clear that language models like ChatGPT have the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with technology. By providing users with human-like responses, ChatGPT has the potential to improve the overall user experience, and make it easier for people to access information and get things done.

What Do Marketers Need to Know About ChatGPT?

For marketers, ChatGPT offers a new way to interact with customers and provide personalized responses in real-time. This can improve customer satisfaction and increase engagement, as customers are able to get answers to their questions quickly and easily. Additionally, ChatGPT can be integrated into customer support systems to help streamline the support process and reduce response times.

In conclusion, ChatGPT is a cutting-edge AI technology that has the potential to change the way we interact with AI systems. While there are some limitations and drawbacks to the technology, for marketers, ChatGPT can be a valuable tool for generating human-like responses to customer questions, improving customer satisfaction, and automating customer support.

There you have it. Which article was clearer and more useful for you? And more importantly who else feels like Hal from “2001: A Space Odyssey” will soon be the voice of ChatGPT?