Who – the protagonist
In 2022, Artificial Intelligence (AI) was going through a transformation stage with increased interest and investment in this space.
San Francisco-based OpenAI, a start-up initially co-founded by Elon Musk, hogged the limelight with ChatGPT, said to be the best AI chatbot released to the public through a free, easy-to-use web interface.
ChatGPT impressed with its ability to mimic conversations, write poetry and prose, solve coding problems, and synthesise knowledge from the web.
ChatGPT’s value stood at $20billion, after $1billion was originally invested in December 2015.
Why?
Despite AI’s potential to transform humanity, there were major concerns about the potential for academic fraud, misinformation, and mass unemployment.
There were also fears that big players such as Google, Meta, and Microsoft were rushing developments in AI to the detriment of humanity.
Should humanity take advantage of the benefits of AI or was the world not yet ready to deal with the impact of such AI tools?
When?
After the release of OpenAI’s first commercial product, GPT-3 in 2020, ChatGPT followed on 30 November 2022, with the dialogue format making it possible for ChatGPT to answer follow up questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests.
Where?
The AI race is very much led by the Silicon Valley tech giants and start-ups.
Key quote
What next?
Start-ups like OpenAI were planning to take AI as far as it would go, with the ultimate ambition being to create artificial general intelligence (AGI) – systems that are generally smarter than humans.
While this required an understanding of the physical world writ large, experts doubted whether methods used to develop technologies like GPT-4 would be capable of producing AGI. Experts also questioned whether there was a need for AI to become that powerful.
Ultimately, if AGI can be achieved, is there any way of stopping it?
On the reasons for writing the case…
Vasudha said: “I felt the universal interest around ChatGPT, and the concerns raised about it, could be converted into an effective learning opportunity. The buzz generated around the launch of the latest AI innovation was the right time to capture its potential, and use it as a tool to drive a discussion on whether human-like AI was really needed and the ethical concerns surrounding it. I also felt that there was a huge scope for discussions on the future of AI and how it would impact the lives of people.”
On the case writing challenges…
Vasudha continued: “There was a deluge of news and articles on ChatGPT and numerous developments in AI and its applications. It was a challenge to sort through this and very interesting to learn about the progress happening in this domain. The various issues that cropped up daily, relating to the usage of generative AI, brought to light the potential of the innovation and also what could go wrong with the new technology.”
On teaching the case…
She added: “This was a very interesting experience. The case fits into the domains of Knowledge, Information and Communication Systems as well as Ethics and Social Responsibility. As AI products move closer to attaining human level intelligence, the pros and cons become very critical to humankind. Thus, the case facilitated learning and debates on various levels.”
On how students react to the case…
She commented: “Students were very enthusiastic about the topic given the timing of the launch and its ramifications. Since it was a contemporary event and most of them had tried ChatGPT first hand, the topic generated passionate arguments.”
On case writing tips…
Vasudha explained: “My top tip for writing a good case is to select a theme or topic you’re passionate about and one that will make students think outside of the box. This helps drive the concept in class very effectively and provide a rich learning experience.”
Final word…
Vasudha concluded: "As the world becomes more digital, and with the advent of innovative technology and applications, the impact of this on humankind will be huge. There’s a dire need for a framework to regulate this development. Innovators, leaders, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders have to be mindful of these implications and be responsible in developing technology, which is capable of eliminating jobs and affecting the livelihoods of people. It’s imperative that students are made aware of these aspects so they are better prepared as they enter this evolving scenario.
“Ultimately, even as numerous AI-based apps flood the market, businesses and individual users have the chance to choose how they wish to use it. Companies can either decide to use ChatGPT to give workers more help, or to simply cut jobs and trim costs. It’s felt that the solution isn’t to deter the progress of technology, but to eliminate or reverse the excess incentives for automation over augmentation. It’s essential to put in place a set of practical benchmarks that can steer progress towards AI-powered systems that will exceed human intelligence.”
The case
Who – the protagonist
In 2022, Artificial Intelligence (AI) was going through a transformation stage with increased interest and investment in this space.
San Francisco-based OpenAI, a start-up initially co-founded by Elon Musk, hogged the limelight with ChatGPT, said to be the best AI chatbot released to the public through a free, easy-to-use web interface.
ChatGPT impressed with its ability to mimic conversations, write poetry and prose, solve coding problems, and synthesise knowledge from the web.
ChatGPT’s value stood at $20billion, after $1billion was originally invested in December 2015.
Why?
Despite AI’s potential to transform humanity, there were major concerns about the potential for academic fraud, misinformation, and mass unemployment.
There were also fears that big players such as Google, Meta, and Microsoft were rushing developments in AI to the detriment of humanity.
Should humanity take advantage of the benefits of AI or was the world not yet ready to deal with the impact of such AI tools?
When?
After the release of OpenAI’s first commercial product, GPT-3 in 2020, ChatGPT followed on 30 November 2022, with the dialogue format making it possible for ChatGPT to answer follow up questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests.
Where?
The AI race is very much led by the Silicon Valley tech giants and start-ups.
Key quote
What next?
Start-ups like OpenAI were planning to take AI as far as it would go, with the ultimate ambition being to create artificial general intelligence (AGI) – systems that are generally smarter than humans.
While this required an understanding of the physical world writ large, experts doubted whether methods used to develop technologies like GPT-4 would be capable of producing AGI. Experts also questioned whether there was a need for AI to become that powerful.
Ultimately, if AGI can be achieved, is there any way of stopping it?
Author perspective
On the reasons for writing the case…
Vasudha said: “I felt the universal interest around ChatGPT, and the concerns raised about it, could be converted into an effective learning opportunity. The buzz generated around the launch of the latest AI innovation was the right time to capture its potential, and use it as a tool to drive a discussion on whether human-like AI was really needed and the ethical concerns surrounding it. I also felt that there was a huge scope for discussions on the future of AI and how it would impact the lives of people.”
On the case writing challenges…
Vasudha continued: “There was a deluge of news and articles on ChatGPT and numerous developments in AI and its applications. It was a challenge to sort through this and very interesting to learn about the progress happening in this domain. The various issues that cropped up daily, relating to the usage of generative AI, brought to light the potential of the innovation and also what could go wrong with the new technology.”
On teaching the case…
She added: “This was a very interesting experience. The case fits into the domains of Knowledge, Information and Communication Systems as well as Ethics and Social Responsibility. As AI products move closer to attaining human level intelligence, the pros and cons become very critical to humankind. Thus, the case facilitated learning and debates on various levels.”
On how students react to the case…
She commented: “Students were very enthusiastic about the topic given the timing of the launch and its ramifications. Since it was a contemporary event and most of them had tried ChatGPT first hand, the topic generated passionate arguments.”
On case writing tips…
Vasudha explained: “My top tip for writing a good case is to select a theme or topic you’re passionate about and one that will make students think outside of the box. This helps drive the concept in class very effectively and provide a rich learning experience.”
Final word…
Vasudha concluded: "As the world becomes more digital, and with the advent of innovative technology and applications, the impact of this on humankind will be huge. There’s a dire need for a framework to regulate this development. Innovators, leaders, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders have to be mindful of these implications and be responsible in developing technology, which is capable of eliminating jobs and affecting the livelihoods of people. It’s imperative that students are made aware of these aspects so they are better prepared as they enter this evolving scenario.
“Ultimately, even as numerous AI-based apps flood the market, businesses and individual users have the chance to choose how they wish to use it. Companies can either decide to use ChatGPT to give workers more help, or to simply cut jobs and trim costs. It’s felt that the solution isn’t to deter the progress of technology, but to eliminate or reverse the excess incentives for automation over augmentation. It’s essential to put in place a set of practical benchmarks that can steer progress towards AI-powered systems that will exceed human intelligence.”
