Deus Ex: Man vs. Machine

“Man vs Machine” is a timeless debate that has been a topic of discussion for centuries. In the digital age, this discussion has taken on a new form, with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and the increasing prevalence of machines in our daily lives. One of the most notable examples of this is the development of language models like OpenAI's ChatGPT.

ChatGPT is a language model developed by OpenAI, which utilizes cutting-edge AI technology to generate human-like responses to written prompts. With a size of over 175 billion parameters, ChatGPT is one of the largest and most advanced language models available today. The technology behind ChatGPT allows it to generate responses that are coherent, informative, and often indistinguishable from those produced by a human.

While the development of ChatGPT and other AI technologies has been a major boon for industries such as customer service and data analysis, it also raises questions about the role of machines in society and their relationship with humans. On one hand, AI has the potential to augment human capabilities and make our lives easier. For example, ChatGPT has been trained on vast amounts of data and can provide reliable answers to complex questions, freeing up time for human workers to focus on more creative and critical tasks.

On the other hand, the rise of machines like ChatGPT also raises concerns about the potential for automation to displace human workers and the ethical implications of relying on machines to make decisions. For example, while it is designed to be neutral and impartial, the data it has been trained on may contain biases that can influence its responses. Furthermore, the sheer size and complexity of ChatGPT and other AI technologies can make it difficult for humans to understand how they reach their conclusions, potentially leading to decisions that are opaque and unpredictable.
To conclude, the relationship between man and machine is complex and multi-faceted. While AI and language models have the potential to augment human capabilities and make our lives easier, they also raise important questions about the role of machines in society and the ethical implications of relying on them to make decisions. As AI continues to evolve, it's important that we approach these technologies with caution and consideration for their impact on society.

To let the cat out of the bag, ALL the paragraphs above have been generated by an AI. Unbelievable, right? In just a few seconds, an AI could produce a coherent, informed, and researched chunk of text about a given topic, with a high enough level of fidelity to make a human-written text and a computer-generated one indistinguishable.

What does this AI hold for our future? I believe, it is still too early to tell. Several schools in the UK have already started re-designing their approach to assignments, switching from traditional homework formats to research and quiz-based ones. Even at KTH, the faculty is divided to give due recognition to AI-based solutions to assignments or discourage its use altogether. Accountability and originality can clearly be questioned in an AI-dependent system. Not only academia but even other white-collar jobs like journalism, graphic design, data entry, data processing, etc. will soon bear the brunt.

As a takeaway, the impact of language models and AI on the job market will depend on how they are adopted and integrated into different industries and the degree to which they can perform tasks previously accomplished by humans.

But for the moment, an ever-ready and always-available sci-fi tutor (ChatGPT or Google’s Bard) solving our assignments with a click of a mouse sounds viciously goooood!!!