It’s only been around for a week but already ChatGPT has over a million users and has spawned a slew of media coverage. It’s being called a game changer and heralded as a new milestone for AI. There are speculations it will be the end of a wide range of jobs in education, software coding, the arts and much more. Google is being told they should be afraid, very afraid.
Personally, I’m excited because I think ChatGPT is going to be GREAT for business…specifically my business. ChatGPT illustrates why AI ethics is more important than ever.
Even ChatGPT agrees…
“Ask ChatGPT itself if the world is ready for it, and it spits out this answer: "It is important for society to carefully consider these issues and develop a responsible approach to the use of AI technologies." (CBC)
Is there an AI ethicist in the house? In a health crisis, we need more medical professionals. In a fire, we need firefighters. And in a society that needs to navigate its relationship with AI technology, we need people who are trained in AI ethics. If ChatGPT really is a domain agnostic tool that shows how AI will change everything, then every organization will need to come to terms with what this means. Every company, government, not for profit - EVERY PERSON - will need to understand what AI means for them and their business. They’ll need to know how to use it responsibly, they'll need to understand issues around the use of data, algorithmic bias and what ethical guardrails they will need to put in place. That’s a whole lot of market upside!
AI is here. We are not ready. AI has been positioned as a technology that is always arriving, a thing of the future, never quite here. Yet, as I try to point out in pretty much every presentation I make, AI is already on the scene. ChatGPT has brought this message home at scale. It’s like a free marketing campaign, a wonderful just-in-time-for-the-holidays gift for all of us who work in the burgeoning field of responsible AI. Everyone can now clearly see that there are MAJOR issues to be addressed before we casually toss human decision making in every realm possible over to an automated system. It’s one thing to let it compose poetry, quite another to take its “advice” seriously. BRING IT…ChatGPT. Let’s do this. AI ethicists sometimes get a reputation for being technological killjoys, the Cassandras, the naysayers. It’s our job to point out the risks - both existential and of the moment - when it comes to these technologies. ChatGPT has many ethical challenges, as others in my field have covered and as I have also noted when asked to comment on the technology. However, I’m going to buck the trend, at least for this post, and be an optimist. I’m going to set aside the ethical concerns of unleashing a large language model chatbot to the public for user testing and say…THANK YOU OpenAI for releasing ChatGPT and clearly illustrating why everyone needs to pay attention to AI ethics. The world now “gets” it. We have heard you loud and clear.
Feeling like you need to learn more or find a career that is AI proof? Check out our AI ethics micro-credential
By Katrina Ingram, CEO, Ethically Aligned AI
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