Moneycontrol Pro Panorama | The far-reaching consequences of ChatGPT

ChatGPT is spreading like wildfire in the developed world, with even children using it to do their homework. (Image Courtesy: NURPHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES)

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The scope of artificial intelligence has taken everyone by surprise, even world leaders. ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, is the buzzword at the Davos Summit.

The reach and influence that artificial intelligence (AI) has on everything that we do is mind-boggling. At Moneycontrol, when we experimented with ChatGPT and asked it to write a budget speech, the output was uncannily similar to the finance minister's earlier budget speeches. We also got it to write a handy wish-list for Budget 2023 and the result is spookily similar to the many articles on budget expectations that we have carried.

ChatGPT is spreading like wildfire in the developed world, with even children using it to do their homework. Schools are now banning it, but it is too little, too late. AI has come banging at our doors.

Various applications of AI have been developed, both in text and audio-video format that have the potential of revolutionising the way we work.

From sites that can write blogs to entire Ph.D. theses, AI can search and collate information in a ready-to-use format. There are applications that can improve your public speaking and sales pitch. These are tools that help generate products and business ideas or make a pitch in such a way that can help reach the right investors to raise capital.

AI has been used by insurance companies to converse with their customers and answer queries. While such services were in use earlier too, but AI now helps reply to questions that are outside the FAQs.

AI can convert text to beautiful images, including 3D images, or make fancy business presentations. It can also help in designing rooms, creating websites that can generate more hits, creating short videos from texts, and speaking to your customers in their native language. There are myriad other uses.

AI’s potential is immense, and it is just getting started, it is a sunrise industry that will see many more improvements. But like most technologies, it is disruptive in nature. AI can result in jobs being lost, but even more serious is its potential impact on learning. Governments, business and civil society urgently need to plan how to best utilise this new and wonderful technology, while preventing its misuse.

In today’s Budget Snapshots, we point out that defence services have seen a higher outlay in FY23. But more than half of it is projected to be spent on personnel salaries and pension, leaving limited funds for procurement and modernisation programmes. Will that change this year?

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Shishir AsthanaMoneycontrol Pro