SANJITA SRINATH

Imagine a world where we can effortlessly engage in natural conversations with artificial intelligence, obtaining insightful information, and exploring new frontiers of knowledge. Thanks to advancements in language models like Chat GPT, this futuristic vision is gradually becoming a reality. Chat GPT, a powerful AI developed by OpenAI, has made a significant impact on modern society, transforming the way we innovate and engage in academia.

Gone are the days when interacting with AI meant deciphering complex codes or struggling with rigid user interfaces. Chat GPT has introduced a new era of conversational AI, enabling users to communicate naturally with machines. This breakthrough has profound implications in various fields. Imagine researchers collaborating with Chat GPT to brainstorm ideas, discuss hypotheses, and refine theories. Academia is no longer limited to human-to-human interactions; now, the knowledge pool has expanded to include machine-generated insights.

Chat GPT has opened up a world of possibilities for innovation. It serves as a creative partner, allowing users to ideate, experiment, and refine their ideas. In fields like engineering, computer science, and product design, Chat GPT acts as a virtual assistant, providing real-time feedback and suggesting innovative solutions. Startups and entrepreneurs can leverage Chat GPT to refine their business strategies, generate marketing content, and analyze market trends. The AI’s ability to process and learn from vast amounts of data makes it an invaluable resource for pushing the boundaries of innovation.

But at the same time, is it a slowly closing spiral? Think about it this way: as of right now, AI can only pull from various sources and compile and synthesize them into an output. I sat down with Dr. Janusz Szczypula from Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon to discuss this. Heinz College is at the frontier of this emerging field and the solver to new problems.

I shared some of my ideas with Dr. Szcyzpula and we discussed some of the new problems and possible solutions. He ventured to say that while he was still only starting to explore AI, he wondered what the innovation and ethical implications of it would be.

But back to the spiral idea. I shared my concerns on this with him. If AI could only pull from limited sources, wouldn’t it create a spiral that made it harder to find new ideas and create new ideas: after all if all the work is just synthesized based on the patterns of other work, everything that’s out there might start to look so similar to each other.

We continued to discuss this and soon the conversation shifted to the spread of misinformation and how AI can both prevent and assist the spread of dangerous topics.

In the end, we can never truly know until it happens. So in the meanwhile, I asked him for advice on what to do next while the world changes around us and his advice is to build a foundation: a rock-solid one that can resist the test of time.