OpenAi CEO Sam Altman said generation Z and millennials are using chatgpt as a “life counselor” – but university students may be one step ahead.
Altman said different generations use chatgpt in different ways. Younger people, for example, tend to use general artificial intelligence more like a counselor, while older generations use it as a search tool substitute, such as Google.
Experts are divided into the security of using LLMS [modelos de aprendizado de máquina projetados para entender e gerar texto humano em linguagem natural] for advice. As ChatgPT becomes more sophisticated, its practical use cases increase. And, as it turns out, different generations use the product differently, according to the OpenAi CEO.
“In a gross simplification, the elders use chatgpt as a Google replacement. Perhaps people in their 20s and 30s use it as a life counselor, and then university students use it as an operating system,” Altman said at the AI ASCENT, from Sequoia Capital, earlier this month.
Risk capital company Sequoia invested for the first time at OpenAi in 2021, when the company was valued at $ 14 billion. Currently, OpenAi is valued at US $ 300 billion after one of the largest private funding rounds in history.
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Sequoia also invested in other technology giants such as Nvidia, Reddit, Instacart, YouTube, Apple, Dropbox, Airbnb and Doordesh.
Altman stated at the event that young people use ChatgPT similarly to how they would use an operating system. They have complex ways to configure and connect it to files and memorize or save quite complex commands. “I mean, these things, I think, are cool and impressive,” said Altman. “And there is something else, they don’t make life decisions without asking chatgpt what they should do.”
Earlier this year, OpenAi published a report stating that “more than any other use case, more than any other type of user, young adults in the US university range are adopting chatgPT,” adding that more than a third of 18-24 year olds use chatgpt.
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Younger people can do this because ChatgPT has a memory of the previous conversations that the user had with the AI product. “He has the whole context about each person in his life and what they have talked about,” said Altman.
Reports show that people have started using chatgpt for everything from relationship advice to business and medical issues. Others use it as a replacement for psychotherapy. Meanwhile, experts in these areas are divided on whether it is safe and advisable to consult ChatgPT for important life decisions.
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For example, a November 2023 study “highlights the need for caution when using chatgpt for protected information or expert consultations, as well as the need for ethical considerations and safeguards to ensure that users understand limitations and receive appropriate advice.”
Another study stated that language models like chatgPT are “inherently sociopathic”, making it difficult to trust their advice. However, other studies and experiments show that using chatgpt for ordinary advice is harmless – and even useful in some cases.
OpenAi did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request to comment if it is safe or reliable to use ChatgPT for advice. “The difference is unbelievable” on how a 20 -year -old can use chatgpt compared to older generations, Altman said during the lecture in Sequoia. “It reminds me when the smartphone was released, every child could use it very well,” said Altman. “And the elders just took three years to find out how to do basic things.”
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This story was originally published at Fortune.com.
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