In less than a week, more than 1 million people have tried a new AI program that composes everything from emails to essays. Some high school and college students are probably celebrating the prospect of delegating future homework assignments to this magical chatbot. The digerati have already declared it the next big thing. Venture capitalists expect billion-dollar companies will be built on this technology.
ChatGPT, from OpenAI, is simple: Type in a request, get back a human-like response. Example: “Write a 500-word essay detailing the origins of the Spanish language, its ties to Latin roots, and the pervasiveness today.” Or “Write a warm, humorous 150-word email asking for 30 minutes of the recipient’s time.”
When my students at Stanford Business School demonstrated the product in the classroom last week, I feared for my job. Writing emails and memos is what I teach.
