Is ChatGPT really coming for our jobs?

So, it's possible you've heard about the new AI wunderkind on the block known as ChatGPT, the LLM (Large Language Model) taking the internet by storm.

In its own words "I am ChatGPT, an advanced language generation model created by OpenAI. I have been trained on a large corpus of text data from the internet and can generate human-like responses to a wide range of prompts, from answering questions to generating stories and more. My aim is to provide quick and concise responses to help users with their needs, making me a valuable tool for businesses, individuals, and researchers alike."

The first version of ChatGPT was birthed by OpenAI in 2013, with version 2 following in 2018. The current version (3) landed in 2020, but has only just started to gain traction and wider recognition outside of the tech space. Despite the technology's limitations - its knowledge base cuts off at the end of 2021 and (thankfully?) it isn't connected to the internet - it's caught on as a great way to write creative content for blogs, news pieces and (we suspect) GCSE homework.

In fact, we've used it to help create some of our recent blog posts, and we've also challenged it to create code in order to solve issues that we've been stuck on, which completely trumps Google in terms of helpfulness. Seeing as we're computer nerds (which basically means big kids at heart), we've also had fun with getting it to write rap songs, limericks, poems and amusing stories, which it appears to handle fairly well and has actually ended up being a great source of entertainment during our lunch periods.

However, advanced AI is a cause of concern for many of us and, whilst the current technology isn't in danger of creating a Skynet-like plan for world domination any time soon, the question of what the real-world implications would be for ChatGPT replacing humans in certain professions is hiding in the corner like the proverbial elephant.