ChatGPT down: chatbot owners respond as AI fails
It’s the sort of social media storm we’ll almost certainly be seeing a whole lot more of in the future. As ChatGPT temporarily went down this morning due to technical issues, thousands of users were left without the use of the world’s most commonly adopted AI.
Many have taken to social media to share how much their working day has changed without being able to lean into AI. Even if they’ve taken a comical approach, their message is clear: the world is relying on AI and they’re going to struggle to do without it, even for five minutes.
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“ChatGPT is down how will I answer if someone asks me my name,” wrote one user, while another added: “When the doctor asks what my birth date is but ChatGPT servers are down.”
ChatGPT: launched in 2022, the AI chatbot has revolutionised the way we gain information
“Is chatgpt down?” wrote another. “Am I supposed to use my brain now at work?”
Others took a more serious approach, questioning our dependency on artificial intelligence to live our lives: “ChatGPT goes down for a moment, and everyone panics. Should we be concerned that we’re becoming too dependent on closed-source AI?”
ChatGPT owner OpenAI has responded to the tech issues by saying they are “investigating” the issue.
“Some users are experiencing elevated error rates and latency across the listed services,” they have written on their service page. “We are investigating.”
Chat GPT launched in November 2022 and has become the most famous AI chatbot. Users type in any question, from ‘what is the meaning of the world’ to ‘are chimps bigger than gorillas?’
Its use has been controversial, particularly by students and employees who have been criticised for relying too heavily on AI to produce work. While some have feared artificial intelligence will take jobs, others have said this is a misconception.
Research has so far produced a mixed picture in terms of ChatGPT and its effect on the workplace. Some surveys suggest AI chatbots can enhance productivity by streamlining tasks, giving employers time to focus on other things. But others have highlighted how chatbots frequently reshare inaccurate information, including conspiratorial thinking, due to issues with the way they collect data.
Writing in CityAM, Paul Armstrong fears that AI could be the death knell of critical thinking. “Frequent reliance on generative tools appears to be reducing critical thinking ability, not enhancing it,” he writes. “Recent research into cognitive offloading shows that when students allow AI to handle the heavy lifting of interpretation, argument construction and logic sequencing, they are less likely to retain or fully understand the material.”
ChatGPT and AI in the workplace was one of the most prominent conversations at the SXSW London event this month, uniting some of the world’s leading businesspeople for a five-day conference in Shoreditch. Following the decision to make 10 writers at the design platform Canva redundant, the Head of Europe defended the design platform’s use of AI.
“It’s not about AI replacing people, it’s about rethinking how work gets done, and where humans add the value,” he told CityAM. “There’s always a human layer where you’re crafting and fine tuning, or editing brand nuance, localisation, etc. So if you can just get to the point where the fine tuning is done faster, that is generally a good thing”. Clark insisted the firm remains “staunchly committed” to empowering people.
New research by Lloyd’s Market Association found that 40 per cent of London market firms are currently using AI in one form or another.
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