On November 30, 2022, ChatGPT was launched. Hailed as a new advancement destined to shake up everything, ChatGPT uncannily mimics human conversation.
In less than six weeks it has been used to write schoolwork and homework, Mint Mobile's advertising copy and even malware.
The advancement comes from Sam Altman’s company OpenAI which, in part funded by Microsoft, has long been testing the limits and abilities of artificial intelligence (AI). It says ChatGPT can “answer follow-up questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests”.
There are dozens of ways to leverage AI in CX – and new use cases emerge all the time. In fact, the 2022 edition of CX Network’s AI in CX survey found 77 percent of businesses planned to implement machine learning (ML) and AI-based solutions last year.
How ChatGPT was built
ChatGPT is designed to conduct conversations, whereas its sibling bot InstructGPT is designed to follow prompts and respond to them.
For ChatGPT OpenAI used Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) to build this advanced service. Sabrina Ortiz explained for ZD Net that “human AI trainers provided the model with conversations in which they played both parts, the user and AI assistant”.
The service is free to the public and Altman tweeted that it had already “crossed 1 million users” by December 5. This is an effective way of improving the system “by getting huge amounts of people to test it for free”, as Michael Spencer explained in AI Supremacy.
What are people saying about it
The progression of this advanced AI has been heralded as impressive by its creators, but many others have concerns as to its legitimacy.
New York City schools have already banned ChatGPT from classrooms. Jenna Lyle, an education department spokesperson, told Chalkbeat that the bot “does not build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills”.
Carly Kind from the Ada Lovelace Institute elaborated on this to the BBC, explaining that the service could be used “to write a passable job application, school essay or grant application, for example”.
The lack of certainty and validity in the answers provided prompted the economist and MIT fellow, Paul Kedrosky to call ChatGPT “a virus that has been released into the wild”.
He further explained that concerns over privacy were even more pressing. Experts believe these online bots could be using data “that is unethically collected from internet users”.
Altman believes ChatGPT could, however, be an important advancement in technology if it is treated as a “preview of progress”.
Furthermore, The Guardian has already described ChatGPT as “the best software program for impersonating humans ever released to the public”. Its accuracy opens “access to sophisticated creativity and solution generation” as Alan Brown, a professor in digital economy from Exeter Business School, points out.
Kind concluded her thoughts on the bot to the BBC by noting that ChatGPT could contain “as-yet-unknown societal benefits”.
Related content: How customers really feel about chatbots
What are the hottest topics in CX?
ChatGPT currently provides 49 different services that range from creating spreadsheets to interacting with “Marv the sarcastic chat bot” and more complicated functions like code writing.
CX Network conducted its own experiment with ChatGPT, asking it for the hottest topics in CX - and we were particularly impressed with number nine.
The bot said personalization should be a priority, particularly the customization of individual customer’s needs. Creating a seamless omnichannel customer journey, customer journey mapping and ensuring employee satisfaction were also listed as major priorities.
Unsurprisingly, incorporating AI into your business model to improve efficiency was listed as the third hottest topic in CX. Similarly, providing self-service options to customers is ranked as a major CX topic.
Here is its response in full…
Some of the hottest trends in customer experience:
- Personalization: Customizing the customer experience to the individual's needs and preferences.
- Omnichannel integration: Ensuring a seamless experience across all channels (e.g., in-store, online, phone).
- Artificial intelligence: Using AI to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of customer interactions.
- Customer journey mapping: Identifying and addressing pain points in the customer journey.
- Employee engagement: Focusing on employee satisfaction and training to improve the overall customer experience.
- User-generated content: Leveraging customer-generated reviews, ratings, and other forms of feedback to improve the experience.
- Virtual and augmented reality: Using VR and AR to enhance the customer experience in various industries, such as retail and tourism.
- Self-service options: Providing customers with the ability to resolve issues and get information on their own through online portals and other self-service options.
- Subscription-based models: Offering customers the option to subscribe to products or services, which can provide a more convenient and personalized experience.
- Emotional intelligence: Training customer-facing employees to be attuned to and address the emotional needs of customers.
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