For most casual observers, when they hear “AI,” they think “ChatGPT.” Artificial intelligence has been all around us for some time now. But ChatGPT made AI much more accessible, useful, and intelligent.
The days following the release of ChatGPT to the public saw a mix of euphoria, panic, and everything in between. Are we entering a brave new world? Will entire industries disappear? Will new jobs be created?
We are still in the midst of the massive transformation that entered the public consciousness with ChatGPT’s launch. So, let’s take some time to look into:
What ChatGPT is
How it works
The main use cases
How Chatbots can be used (or abused)
The differences between ChatGPT and human-generated content
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot built by OpenAI, and with over 14 billion visits in one year, it’s by far the most popular AI tool in the world.
Users can ask GPT for any language-related task. As a large language model (LLM), ChatGPT can both understand and produce natural language in text form. Thanks to the underpinning vast neural network, it can provide outputs based on the material it’s trained on and the safeguards that were built into it.
For most users, ChatGPT is a powerful writing, organization, and idea-producing tool. Although there are different rules and ethical concerns for different applications, the most common uses for ChatGPT and similar chatbots are:
Providing answers to user questions
Composing content, including fictional excerpts
Writing articles, essays, or arguments before or against a proposition
Casual, human-like conversation
Creating new code for a specified function
Composing non-fiction content like social media posts or emails
So, what makes this all possible, and why is ChatGPT so popular compared to other generative AI tools?
A Leader in Generative AI
A lot of ChatGPT’s popularity stems from simply being ahead of the curve. When OpenAI launched GPT-3 in May 2020, it quickly became the biggest name in AI.
GPT-3 was similar to the customer service chatbots that you would have found on various websites. The main difference was that it was simply so much better. With its language processing skills, it could “autopilot” in a way other chatbots could not. It could understand the user’s language, expanding its ability to understand customer queries and provide more specific responses.
GPT-3.5 Turbo
A newer version of GPT-3, 3.5, came out in March 2022, with GPT-3.5 Turbo was released in November 2022, becoming the first of the Turbo models. It still offers the same impressive capabilities as the GPT-3.5 but with faster speeds.
While this model wasn’t a new generation from OpenAI, it was a substantial update. For business users with the need for more up-to-date knowledge and faster speeds, it was a big improvement.
GPT-4
GPT-4 was released with limited access in March 2023. Coming very shortly after GPT-3, this release solidified OpenAI’s leadership position in generative AI.
First of all, GPT-4 is a much larger model than GPT-3. It came with new parameters and a much larger capacity for training. As a language processor, it also saw massive improvements in how it could understand language patterns.
Memory
In February 2024, OpenAI released a new “memory” feature, allowing ChatGPT to remember what you’ve discussed to enhance its chatting capabilities. Meanwhile, ChatGPT was quickly spreading across the world like wildfire, going from 1 million in the days after launch to over 200 million active users in 2024.
What stood out, in particular, was the nuanced understanding and language that GPT-4 displayed. It could perform more complex tasks and learn more over the course of long conversations. In practice, that meant that users could start teaching their own little AI models during the course of one chat. Extended back-and-forth feedback could create very specific and unique outcomes.
On GPT-4 longer prompts and longer conversations can produce impressive dialogue or even technical instructions. A longer “context window” meant that with every input, the chatbot could become closer to what the user needed it to be.
Higher-quality Output
The other major improvement was one that would be both controversial and groundbreaking in academia—accuracy. Here, we must remember that all GPT models come with disclaimers that they may produce inaccurate information. Users are urged to fact-check all GPT outputs. However, because GPT-4 was trained on more knowledge and had a higher capacity, it provides information that is certainly more comprehensive and relevant and is often more accurate, too.
Perhaps more importantly, GPT-4 produced more reliable reasoning for logic and problem-solving tasks. You can produce comprehensive code, solve complex mathematical problems, and decode puzzles far better with GPT-4.
GPT-4o
GPT-4o (the “o” stands for “omni”) came out in May 2024. The changes it brought included updates to the inputs it could accept and its processing speed. Now, users could start accepting any combination of text, image, and audio and output the same as instructed. In addition, it cut the time it took to respond to user inputs by a substantial amount, up to ⅓ in some cases.
Then, in July 2024, OpenAI released GPT-4o Mini, a smaller and cheaper version of the model for smaller-scale tasks.
With the release of GPT-4o, free users could access more advanced tools with limitations. This made it the go-to option for complex multi-step tasks. It also released GPT-4 knowledge with faster processing and improved text, image, and voice capabilities.
How Does ChatGPT Work?
So, what makes all of this history and impressive functionality actually work? OpenAI led the way in making advanced AI technology available to the general public.
Natural Language Processing
ChatGPT uses natural language processing (NLP) to create dialogue that mimics human speech and conversation. NLP is a branch of AI directed at how computers interact with human languages.
NLP is a broad field in AI that covers:
Understanding human language
Interpreting the meaning of sentences
Generating human sentences
OpenAI used NLP as the foundation on which their GPT models were built. It’s what’s responsible for their chatbot’s ability to understand sentences, translate between languages, and recognize the user’s sentiment.
Now, users of any major online AI chatbot are interfacing with natural language processors regularly. But NLP is a complex study of its own that is based on machine learning and draws from statistics and linguistics.
Generative Pre-training Transformer
A GPT is a more specific learning model, but falls within the field of NLP. It’s a type of language model that is dedicated to applying machine learning to generate text that is relevant and coherent.
The “T” in GPT refers to the transformer architecture of neural network-based language models. The job GPTs do is analyze language queries (prompts). This neural network uses its understanding of language to produce the best possible response, as far as its understanding and training material enable it to.
The OpenAI GPT models were pre-trained on a massive library of text data. The learning process was a lengthy feeding process where each model was trained to learn language patterns.
Of course, OpenAI had to build the parameters under which their GPT models would work. This process includes fine-tuning datasets for different types of tasks and setting rules and safeguards. Lastly, the transformers process data efficiently.
AI Chatbot Risks
On its own, NLP carries some risks. Human language is ambiguous, and even some people become confused by language. It’s hard for a neural network to make sense of context and intent, and provide coherent responses.
The thing is that most AI chatbots, especially ChatGPT, have strong guardrails against misuse and can restrict harmful and dangerous responses.
However, AIs can present more risk when they are used for serious tasks thoughtlessly.
After ChatGPT quickly exploded in popularity, there were countless stories of students using it to complete essays. At the time, teachers were starting to notice commonalities in essays written with AI models. As time has gone on, tools like AI Detector have been released, accurately scanning text for signs of AI use and plagiarism.
Plagiarism & Originality
Speaking of plagiarism, we have a more serious risk of improperly using AI.
NLP can perform many impressive tasks but faces challenges such as bias and repetitive language. AI models use a certain style of writing and explaining to answer user queries. This often gets users in trouble after getting caught plagiarizing or simply getting a chatbot to do all their work.
The way AI models are trained may cause them to produce content that is either false or unoriginal. Remember, AI models are trained on massive datasets, which include existing texts from many different sources. These sources can be a massive mix of content that is:
Freely available
Public domain
Copyright-protected
This topic is controversial and difficult to measure due to the scale of data being used. However, there are individual lawsuits against ChatGPT and other AI chatbots stemming from circumstances similar to those we’re describing.
AI datasets are bound to include others’ work, without crediting the original writers. Of course, the full picture of how AI models have become so “smart” is complex. But their datasets are so comprehensive that if you use AI thoughtlessly, you may accidentally be stealing someone else’s work by proxy.
The problem of AI models being trained on copyrighted text has existed for a long time. It’s well-understood at this point, and now we are seeing the same thing happen with AI video generation.
To be fair, at this point, we should specify that AI models don’t simply “copy” content from sources. But they do read text, including some highly specific passages, and learn unique:
Information
Speech patterns
Phrases
So, when AI models produce content that can arguably violate copyright or constitute plagiarism, it’s certainly an accident. But as the person who chose to publish or submit that content, the user is ultimately responsible for the consequences regardless of their intentions.
Factual Accuracy
Equally important, in many cases, ChatGPT isn’t an authority on facts in any study. At least for the time being, it is not trained to be academically rigorous, adding citations, and standing strong on its statements with the same rigor of a human.
Is ChatGPT Safe?
Yes, ChatGPT is largely safe, as it was built with many safeguards and contains strict rules against dangerous or inflammatory content.
Compared to other popular AI chatbots, ChatGPT takes safety seriously. They have terms of service that are automatically enforced when users break them.
Most cybersecurity experts regard ChatGPT as safe in terms of not suffering data leaks. There are some concerns about ChatGPT-impersonating malware scams and concerns over how the platform uses your data. However, ChatGPT employs:
Regular third-party cybersecurity audits
Encryption
Strong access controls
A bug bounty program
It’s impossible to provide a 100% guarantee that any online platform is safe against malicious actors. However, ChatGPT employs strong, audited protections against data breaches, phishing, malware, and other common cybersecurity threats.
Most of the risk that ChatGPT can present to users stems from the user’s own misuse of the platform. These risks may materialize accidentally, due to ignorance. If a user breaks the terms of service they agree to with OpenAI, they are likely taking risks that make their misuse of the platform unsafe.
Likewise, if users break the rules of their schools, employers, or other groups they’re connected with by using AI in a way that is forbidden, that user is putting themselves at risk.
Examples of risky use of ChatGPT that break the platform or institutions rules include:
Having ChatGPT write an essay for a university class
A lawyer accidentally citing non-existent cases using ChatGPT
A journalist writing a news story while citing “facts” provided by ChatGPT
Is ChatGPT Accurate?
Most of the time, ChatGPT provides accurate information.
Image credit: National Library of Medicine
This answer is based on several studies that demonstrate an impressive degree of factual accuracy from GPT-4. However, we have to remind you that according to ChatGPT itself, the information it provides may not be accurate and must be checked.
As the most popular of the new AI chatbots by far, there are a lot of studies and claims surrounding ChatGPT’s factual accuracy. Unfortunately, this has produced a lot of widely different claims. It is hard to sort through the bias, but one thing worth noting is the complexity of the questions it is asked.
Any study covering ChatGPT that uses widely available information will reveal that ChatGPT is accurate at least 80% of the time. The broadest AI chatbot tests that cover all the popular platforms on a range of topics present a generally good story. Over time, ChatGPT’s performance has increased substantially. However, you must use the most up-to-date version (GPT-4o) to get the best possible results.
Image credit: Stanford University & UC Berkeley
To summarize the vast pool of data we have on GPT-4 so far:
Yes, ChatGPT is accurate the majority of the time. However, because it does leave a lot of room for error, it should not be used as an authoritative source. Any factual information it produces should be verified. It should also be tested for plagiarism in case there is unique, copyrighted material.
How to Use ChatGPT
Use ChatGPT in a way that helps you clarify concepts, generate new ideas, and get help with writing or coding tasks.
There are many great ways to use ChatGPT that aren’t going to get you in any trouble. But copying written content or code and pasting it directly into a document or university essay can make you unintentionally guilty of plagiarism. Professors and employers expect original material that is properly cited.
You’ve probably heard this all before. But there’s also another factor that you should consider. Over time, as AI models improve, our ability to detect AI in content is also improving.
How to Tell if Content is Written by ChatGPT
If you use ChatGPT to write content extensively, you will notice some repetitive phrasing and other practices.
First, ChatGPT has a talent for using overly complicated words throughout almost every sentence. It offers a luxurious cover for what may or may not be very deep content underneath. Sentences like, “After identifying patterns and insights, make them actionable by tying them to specific business improvements,” would be typical advice for marketing teams.
Another common signature of ChatGPT is very conservative wording. The most up-to-date ChatGPT may provide some citations in some cases. However, for the most part, it uses its databases to provide answers, and always leaves some kind of disclaimer. ChatGPT likes to play it safe and not take responsibility for providing solid, factual information, and rightfully so.
There are also smaller signs such as:
The near-ubiquitous use bullet points, even when they don’t make sense.
Excessive filler words that sound cultured but don’t add much to the content.
So-called AI “hallucinations” which are simply nonsensical statements
Another way you can catch content that is produced by ChatGPT is with AI detectors.
Does ChatGPT Content Get Detected?
Educators and employers have reported that ChatGPT-produced content is easy to see. But even if a lot slips through the cracks, AI detection tools can catch AI-produced content.
AI detectors have been introduced at some schools to assist educators in finding warning signs of AI use. AI detection tools like AI Detector can help you quickly identify work that should be looked at a bit more closely for AI use and plagiarism.
A Last Word on ChatGPT
ChatGPT was and still is the leader of the AI revolution. GPT-4o has demonstrated remarkable knowledge and processing ability. Its use cases are limitless, as far as human and computer languages go. You can add mathematics to that equation.
The technology that powers many alternative AI chatbots was first introduced to much of the general public by ChatGPT. OpenAI’s product has changed the world and made news for every kind of reason, and will likely continue to do so.
