ChatGPT, open AI’s most popular chatbot, has been making headlines since its inception in November 2022. It gained 1 million users within a week and became the fastest-growing consumer app in history, according to reports.
For those still unfamiliar with what ChatGPT is, ChatGPT is a language model developed by OpenAI, designed to generate human-like text. It is also used for answering questions, translating languages, composing music, generating stories and poems, summarizing, writing code, and much more.
My curiosity led me to play around with chatGPT, and I got some pretty cool responses from the bot (It's free and easily accessible as of now). ChatGPT certainly has the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with chatbots. But we can’t overlook the potential ethical and social dangers it poses. Even OpenAI has advised verifying the content generated by chatGPT as it is still in the training and development phase.
Let’s get an insight into what are the dangers of ChatGPT now. We will also see why does ChatGPT give the same answers, and how to use it responsibly to minimize the risks associated with it.
9 Biggest dangers of chatGPT right now
Inaccurate information
ChatGPT is trained on vast amounts of data, and in the case of inaccurate data or missing information, the responses will reflect those issues. This may spread incorrect information and may prove ineffective in the case of unique queries.
ChatGPT is not capable of verifying the accuracy of the information in training data and may generate responses that are false or misleading. Sometimes it can solve a complex algorithmic problem but give inaccurate results for a simple mathematical problem.
Privacy issues
The use of AI language models raises questions about the privacy and security of personal data used to train and improve them. It retains the user’s data and sensitive information, which can pose a threat if the data gets misused. There are also concerns about who has access to the data and how it is stored, processed, and protected. In simple terms, all your conversations can be stored and reviewed by human trainers to examine and improve the AI model.
Generation of phishing emails
The most significant danger of chatGPT is that it can produce phishing emails in multiple languages. To hackers' delight, they can ask for a marketing email, a shopping notification, or a software update in their native language and get a well-crafted response in English. Generally, these emails are identified by typos and grammatical errors, but without those signs, it will be quite difficult to identify phishing emails.
Biased content
In many instances, ChatGPT has provided racist and sexist responses. This poses a societal risk since young people or people who take ChatGPT’s answers at face value might get influenced by its biased data.
It's crucial to carefully consider the quality and diversity of the data including factors such as demographic representation, gender balance, and cultural diversity in training a model like ChatGPT. This will minimize the risk of bias in the output. Additionally, efforts should be made to pre-process the data to remove sources of bias and stereotyped content.
Job displacement
ChatGPT and other AI models have the potential to displace jobs by automating repetitive tasks such as data entry, customer service, and other everyday tasks. However, AI is more likely to augment human work and improve existing jobs, rather than replace them altogether.
That being said, the displacement of jobs due to AI automation is a complicated issue that can cause economic disruption and impact several industries. Organizations must provide support and retraining opportunities for those affected by job loss during automation.
While there may be job losses in certain industries, the overall impact on employment is likely to be more complex. This is because AI will also create new job roles in related fields.
Plagiarism
ChatGPT can generate text that is similar to existing content, which could result in plagiarism.
Also, ChatGPT is not capable of original thought and creative responses as it is based on training data patterns.
Creation of malware
Due to its ability to generate code in many languages such as python, javascript, and C, if asked, chatGPT can create malware to detect sensitive user data. It can also hack the target's entire computer system or an email account to get important information.
Over-dependence
Dependence on AI language models could result in a decline in critical thinking and problem-solving skills among individuals and society as a whole. It can limit personal growth and decision-making capabilities, specifically for students. Many schools and universities have already raised concerns about children using chatGPT for writing essays and coding and have banned using chatGPT for school work.
Limited context
AI models like ChatGPT can only respond based on the information they have been trained on and cannot access real-time facts or understand the context the same way a human would. Thus the responses lack a ‘human touch.’ The answers also seem too formal and machine-generated.
Additionally, according to OpenAI, chatGPT’s knowledge is limited to events that occurred before 2021, thus it can’t answer questions related to events post that.
How to limit the biggest risks of chatGPT?
The biggest dangers of ChatGPT are data theft, phishing emails, and malware. Here’s how you can protect yourself from these risks.
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Do not share any personal information and sensitive data with chatGPT. You can send an email to OpenAI and request to delete your data, in case you’ve already shared it.
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Carefully analyze and verify the content of any suspicious emails and do not click on any link.
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Have a difficult-to-guess password.
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Install effective anti-virus software and have a two-factor authentication process.
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To protect your system from cyberattacks, keep your software updated with the latest security installations as outdated software can put your business at risk.
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In addition, Do not take any legal, medical, or financial advice from chatGPT.
Conclusion
The nature of AI and machine learning is such that they are as good as the data they are trained on. If the data is biased, inaccurate, or has sensitive information, your results will reflect those issues too. Additionally, there are accountability and transparency issues with such complex designs.
Therefore, it is critical to use AI language models like ChatGPT responsibly and with appropriate protection in place. Robust data safeguarding and privacy policies must be in place to overcome the biggest dangers of ChatGPT.
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