ChatGPT: Should we be Afraid or Take Advantage of it?

As you read this article, millions of people around the world are interacting with and probably marvelling at the ChatGPT system, a fascinating technology based on artificial intelligence techniques, launched in 2022 and which is already revolutionising the way we live.

Created by the American company OpenAI, ChatGPT is designed to help you with almost anything you need.

With it, you can translate a text into the language of your choice, write programming code in any computer language for the function you need, compose a song on the theme of your choice, write a literary work, a script, a poem or an article with the parameters and length of your choice, solve a complex mathematical problem or make health, travel and film recommendations.

And many, many other things. In just a few seconds, and with extremely high precision.

And most surprisingly of all, ChatGPT talks to its users as if they were real people. As well as providing all kinds of information, it responds to reactions, asks questions, questions, suggests, comments and even gives advice.

It sounds like science fiction, but it's not.

The future is here

The launch of ChatGPT has far exceeded all commercial expectations: in its short lifetime, it has already reached more than 100 million users, a number that, according to all forecasts, will continue to grow at a dizzying pace in the coming months.

The United States is the country with the highest percentage of people who frequently use ChatGPT, more than 10 per cent of the world total, according to SimilarWeb. It's also on the rise all over the world.

Its creator and president of OpenAI, Sam Altman, who until less than a year ago had a relatively low profile, away from the media, has become the most recognised entrepreneur of the moment, and his presence is requested all over the world by leaders of large multinationals, the main media conglomerates and even the presidents of the most powerful countries.

But how does this new tool that promises to turn the world upside down work? ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence platform that works with an algorithm capable of finding answers to specific questions and generating texts in natural language.

Unlike the chatbots known so far, ChatGPT doesn't provide predefined answers, but is trained (and the learning process is continuous) to understand, contextualise and provide coherent answers according to the types of user requests.

ChatGPT is based on GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) technology, a pre-trained language model also created by OpenAI. Its latest version, GPT-4, recently announced by the company, will offer greater precision in its responses and interactions, with the aim of achieving increasingly human-like performance.

More value and better results

Whenever a new technology appears on the market, there are fears, one of which is that it could take people's jobs away, leading to a rise in unemployment. There are also pessimists, such as those who warn of the damage that can be caused by artificial intelligence used by malicious or unscrupulous minds; or those who predict that AI will end up dominating humanity.

Far from such negative visions, the emergence of ChatGPT promises numerous benefits that will improve the lives of companies and people all over the world. It is already being used to good effect in the health, finance, manufacturing and metalworking sectors.

Its versatility and ability to generate intelligent content are also helping marketing and advertising agencies, the media and educational and research institutions.

Experts stress that the implementation of artificial intelligence in companies will not eliminate sources of labour, but will transform them, adding value by helping employees to perform their tasks better.

With the ability to analyse large amounts of data, ChatGPT can help companies of all sizes and sectors make data-driven decisions and improve operational efficiency and the customer experience, boost e-commerce and increase productivity.

The right partners

Large technology companies such as SAP, for example, are already working with artificial intelligence in some of their solutions. This is the case with SAP Business Technology Platform, SAP Analytics Cloud, SAP Build Process Automation, SAP Sales Cloud, SAP Integrated Business Planning, among others, which offer automated and personalised applications tailored to customers' needs.

Christian Klein, CEO of SAP, recently stated that they have developed more than 50 artificial intelligence use cases to offer their customers, and that they are already working with ChatGPT in conjunction with Microsoft.

In the same vein, within this ecosystem of leading technology companies, SEIDOR, one of SAP's main business partners and a member of the United VARs, has also incorporated artificial intelligence into several of its products with the aim of helping to automate tasks and optimise its customers' demand forecasts.

Technological milestone

"What I'm seeing in AI in the last 12 months alone is incredible and could be as important as the PC, the PC with the graphical user interface or the Internet. It's one of the four most important milestones in digital technology. AI will change the way people work, learn, travel, receive medical care and communicate with each other," predicted Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, a company that has invested several million dollars in the ChatGPT project.

Change is here, now, among us. We are living through a fundamental and decisive moment, a paradigm shift that is transforming the way people interact with technology and which will enable organisations to optimise their productivity and profitability. A true knowledge revolution, with a potential so great that nobody can yet predict how far it will go!