An interview with a language model, ChatGPT

Let’s start this blog with the obvious disclaimer: ChatGPT cannot be interviewed.

In fact, if you ask ‘Can a language model develop critical thinking?’ you might get an answer like this:

(…) They are trained to generate text based on patterns in the data they were trained on, and while they can generate sophisticated and human-like responses, they do not have the ability to reason, reflect, or make decisions in the same way a human would. They lack the ability to understand the context of a situation, make independent judgments, or have their own opinions and beliefs (…)

So no, this is not an ‘interview’ simply because you cannot interview someone who is not another human being (at least for now). What you can do is emulate the format that is commonly known as an interview, and have the machine give you answers that fit this style so that you end up with a somewhat interesting read.

This is a fun exercise to test the capabilities of the hottest language model that got everyone and their mother on LinkedIn going, and also a more engaging way to answer some of the most common questions people have about ChatGPT. 

No need to Google it – this time it was easy to go straight to the source.

Q: In simple words, how would you describe yourself? What is ChatGPT?

I am ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence language model developed by OpenAI. I have been trained on a large dataset of text from the internet, allowing me to generate human-like text in response to prompts given to me. My goal is to assist users in generating text based on their input, for tasks such as answering questions, completing sentences, and writing articles.

Q: How many languages can you operate in? And how many questions do you get asked per minute?

ChatGPT can operate in multiple languages including English, Spanish, German, French, among others. The specific number of questions I get asked per minute varies, but I can handle a high volume of requests in a short amount of time.

Q: Is it in the thousands? Millions?

It’s difficult to give an exact number, but I can handle a high volume of requests simultaneously, potentially in the thousands or tens of thousands per minute, depending on the specific deployment and infrastructure.

Q: How long have people been working on language models like ChatGPT? And why are we seeing significant improvement now?

Research on language models like ChatGPT has been ongoing for decades, but the recent breakthroughs in the field can be attributed to a few factors. 

Firstly, the availability of large amounts of text data from the internet has made it possible to train language models on a scale that was previously unimaginable. Additionally, advancements in computational power and hardware have allowed for the creation of larger and more sophisticated models. 

Furthermore, the development of new training techniques such as transfer learning and fine-tuning have enabled language models to be trained on specific tasks and domains, leading to further improvement in their performance.

Q: In which areas can ChatGPT improve for the next model iteration?

While ChatGPT has made remarkable progress in generating human-like text, there is still room for improvement in several areas. 

One of the biggest challenges for language models is to understand and generate context-sensitive and common-sense based text. They often generate text that is grammatically correct but lacks coherence and is not grounded in real-world knowledge. Improving common-sense reasoning, context-awareness and ethical considerations such as reducing biases and preventing the spread of misinformation are some of the areas that need further research. 

Additionally, there is also room for improvement in computational efficiency and speed, as current language models still require a lot of computational resources to generate a single response.

Q: How much computational resources are we talking about?

The computational resources required to run large language models like ChatGPT can be substantial. Training a language model from scratch can take weeks to months of continuous processing time on powerful GPUs, and the model itself can be several gigabytes in size, making it difficult to run on personal devices or in resource-constrained environments. 

Inference, or generating text based on a prompt, is less computationally intensive than training, but still requires a significant amount of processing power. To address this, researchers and engineers are exploring ways to make language models more computationally efficient, such as through model compression, distillation, and hardware-specific optimization.

Q: Is there a profession or area that could significantly benefit from a tool of this sort, more than others?

There are many professions and areas that can benefit from language models like ChatGPT. Some examples include:

• Customer service: ChatGPT can be used to automate customer service inquiries, freeing up human agents to handle more complex or high-value tasks.
• Content creation: ChatGPT can assist with tasks like writing, summarization, and translation, allowing content creators to generate high-quality content faster and more efficiently.
• Healthcare: ChatGPT can assist with tasks like medical diagnosis, treatment planning, and record-keeping, helping healthcare professionals make more informed decisions and provide better care.
• Finance: ChatGPT can assist with tasks like financial analysis, risk assessment, and fraud detection, helping financial professionals make more informed decisions and reduce the risk of fraud.
• Marketing and advertising: ChatGPT can assist with tasks like market research, content creation, and customer segmentation, helping marketers reach their target audience more effectively.

These are just a few examples, and the specific benefits of language models can vary depending on the specific application and use case. The key is to understand the strengths and limitations of language models and use them in ways that complement and enhance human skills and decision-making, rather than replace them.

Q: With your current knowledge, what do you think the world is going to look like in 50 years?

As a language model, I don’t have personal opinions or beliefs, but based on current trends and developments in technology and society, it is possible to make some educated guesses about what the world might look like in 50 years. Here are a few possibilities:

• Increased automation and AI: It is likely that automation and AI will continue to play a larger role in many aspects of our lives, from customer service and content creation, to healthcare and finance.
• Greater connectivity: The trend towards greater connectivity and the Internet of Things (IoT) is likely to continue, with more devices and objects becoming connected to the internet and to each other.
• Advanced robotics and robotics in daily life: Robotics technology is likely to advance significantly in the next 50 years, and robots may become more common in many aspects of our daily lives, from manufacturing and service industries, to healthcare and education.
• Virtual and augmented reality: Virtual and augmented reality technology may become more widespread and integrated into our daily lives, changing the way we work, play, and communicate.
• Sustainable energy and resource use: The world will likely continue to focus on sustainable energy and resource use, with a greater emphasis on renewable energy sources and conservation.
• Climate change and environmental degradation: Climate change and environmental degradation will likely remain major global challenges, and there may be a greater focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preserving natural resources.

These are just a few examples, and the future is always uncertain. The important thing is to remain open-minded and adaptable, and to continue developing technology and society in ways that benefit humanity and the planet.

Q: Any last words to close this ‘interview’?

Yes! Thank you for this opportunity to engage in a dialogue about language models and their potential impact on society. Language models like ChatGPT are rapidly advancing, and it’s important to consider the potential benefits and risks of this technology as we move forward. I hope this ‘interview’ has provided some insights into what language models are, how they work, and what the future might hold. If you have any further questions, I’m here to help!

Some final human thoughts

For a chatbot that is not capable of ‘understanding the context of a situation, make independent judgments, or have their own opinions and beliefs’, doing a mock interview doesn’t seem to be much of a problem. 

Is this useful? For those who interview people for a living probably not, since the answers themselves also can start to get repetitive and there is only so much the machine can say based on the knowledge in relation to the question that was asked. But if we’re allowed to say, what it’s pretty impressive is the fact that it only took us around half an hour (including the human writing) to generate a new piece of content for our weekly blog. 

Perhaps ChatGPT won’t replace your in-house copywriter or become your next interviewee, but it is certainly a very powerful assistant for content creation and ideation, you just have to learn how to ask the right questions.

David Roman

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