On November 30 last year, OpenAI officially released the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT, which subsequently set off an artificial intelligence craze around the world, subverting one industry after another. When asked how he felt on his first birthday, ChatGPT responded: "Thank you for the birthday wishes! However, it is important to note that as a computer program, I have no feelings or awareness, so I do not experience emotions like a human."

Despite this, in the past year, its powerful functions have changed the work and lifestyle of more and more people, becoming the fastest-growing application in the world. Of course, its growing influence also raises questions about the role of artificial intelligence in society.

OpenAI has experienced dramatic internal strife in recent times. Fortunately, Altman regained control of OpenAI, saving the startup from the tragic fate of falling apart and ushering in a new phase of difficult decisions.

Silicon Valley lifeline

Go back to November 2022, and you will see that the technology industry is being hit by unprecedented large-scale layoffs and cost-cutting measures. These measures have resulted in the unemployment of a large number of technology employees and have eclipsed the myth of Silicon Valley.

At the same time, higher interest rates have all but evaporated funding for startups, and a cloud of uncertainty hangs over the technology industry, leading some to compare it to the dot-com bubble burst more than 20 years ago.

On November 30, a startup called OpenAI released an experimental chatbot called ChatGPT. Seemingly overnight, generative artificial intelligence technology has taken the world by storm. It wowed the public with its ability to hold human-like conversations, draft emails and write articles, and respond to complex search queries with concise output.

In just two months, ChatGPT became the fastest-growing consumer app in history, reaching 100 million monthly active users in January. It has spurred an AI arms race among tech companies, boosted a scarred tech industry and sparked a bidding war for top AI talent.

artificial intelligence revolution

A year later, enthusiasm for artificial intelligence remains feverish. Technology giants have invested tens of billions of dollars in this technology, and countries are hoarding the chips needed for the development of artificial intelligence. The promise and pitfalls of generative AI are still being hotly debated in boardrooms and dinner tables around the world, and making headlines.

Jeff Clune, a computer science professor at Columbia University, said: "The world didn't realize the AI ​​revolution and what was happening until ChatGPT was put into people's hands and could be used at scale."

Clune noted that ChatGPT has already made millions of people’s lives easier in small and unique ways. But he added that the full impact of the tool's potential technology on society hasn't even begun to hit its peak.

"Many people mistakenly focus on the current seemingly miraculous capabilities of AI, without properly seeing that the rate at which it is improving—continues to evolve exponentially—over time. What AI can do now is just the beginning."

pandora's box

Within and beyond the tech industry, AI’s impact on the labor market is also beginning to be felt. An August study found that in just a few months since ChatGPT was released, it was already having a negative impact on job opportunities and income for online freelancers such as copywriters and graphic designers.

Meanwhile, another study published in September found that getting highly skilled white-collar workers at a large consulting firm to use the latest version of ChatGPT improved employee performance by about 40%.

Many of the biggest names in tech are singing the praises of how artificial intelligence has the potential to increase productivity, help us work less, and create new and better jobs in the future. But as is often the case in the tech industry, technology is often a double-edged sword, and the road to technotopia is rocky and full of unintended consequences.

Even outside the workplace, most people are not immune to other unintended consequences of this technology—such as the amount of AI-generated content that has flooded the internet over the past year.

Suresh Venkatasubramanian, a professor at Brown University, said that currently, we are all still in the stage of trying to figure out what artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT can actually be used for, and what their limitations are.

“It’s too early to know whether it lives up to the hype,” he added. At the same time, he still dismissed some of the AI ​​industry’s claims about its potential to solve major world problems as “bullshit.” But there are pros and cons, and generative artificial intelligence is no exception to this point.

new world

Clune, an artificial intelligence researcher at Columbia University, said: "Many, many tasks currently done by humans will be able to be done by artificial intelligence. How does society adapt to this situation?"

Ideally, AI tools would have the most equitable impact on society without exacerbating the divide between rich and poor.

“The transition will be challenging, and now is the time for the public to put pressure on policymakers and industry to come up with creative solutions. This could mean taxing AI companies and reallocating those funds, or increasing experiments with universal basic income.”

What is unusual about OpenAI's board of directors is that it does not assume the obligation to maximize shareholder value, but to fulfill a larger mission, which is to promote the development of artificial intelligence and benefit all mankind. OpenAI said on its website that in the eyes of the board, "the primary beneficiaries are human beings, not OpenAI's investors."

But recent episodes of infighting suggest that things may not be so simple and harmonious. A factor in the CEO's firing was reportedly Altman's preference for more aggressive development of artificial intelligence, while board members wanted to move more cautiously. But OpenAI and Ultraman have yet to disclose what happened.

When asked whether the OpenAI board of directors might reconsider the original mission, OpenAI interim chairman Bret Taylor said: "I think it's a good question - but I'm afraid it's not something I can answer as soon as I take office."