Everyone of you has certainly heard of Chat GPT, the (more or less) new AI system that attracted a lot of attention, especially in December. Whether in social media, in online newspapers or during the coffee break in the ZUCKER. office – there is definitely potential for discussion in connection with Chat GPT. We have tried to test the limits of the AI, but have reached our limits ourselves. Chat GPT can simply do everything – in seconds. But is it really as groundbreaking as it might seem at first glance?
Chat GPT – nice to meet ya!
While some are completely fascinated and at the same time shocked by the new application, the scope of AI-generated services is already old news for others. At ZUCKER. we know that AI has already been actively used for text production in the media industry for several years. Nevertheless, we want to briefly take a step back and enlighten all those who may not have heard much about Chat GPT yet.
Chat GPT is an artificial intelligence that was launched on November 30, 2022 as a beta version of an application that has yet to be released, free of charge and accessible to all. The AI is funded by Elon Musk and Microsoft, among others. GPT stands for “Generative Pre-trained Transformer.” Broken down, you can say that it is an artificial neural network that has read a large amount of information and texts. We as users can interact with it via a chat window and ask the AI many different questions. It is also interesting that, if one is not satisfied with the first answer, one can also give further instructions for adjustments such as: shorten the text, explain an aspect in particular or the like.
Anyone who registers on the platform can ask the AI machine any question and receive a suitable answer in seconds. What may come as a great surprise to some, is that the answers really do sound human and genuine. The AI knows creative writing, but also produces programming languages, university-level math problems, fitness training plans, assignments for class tests and texts such as press releases.
To check how intelligent the English version of AI really is, ZUCKER.colleague Orchan tested it and asked it to write a short text on AI and PR. This is what came out of it:
Artificial intelligence (AI) has made significant progress in the field of public relations (PR) in recent years. One of the most significant developments has been the use of chatbots and virtual assistants to assist with customer service and improve the user experience. These AI-powered systems are able to converse with users in a natural, human-like manner, providing personalized recommendations and responses based on data analysis.
In addition to chatbots, AI is also being used to improve the effectiveness of social media marketing. AI-powered systems can analyze social media data and identify trends and patterns, which can help businesses and organizations better understand their customers and tailor their marketing efforts accordingly.
Another area of AI research that has seen significant progress is the development of natural language generation (NLG) systems. These AI systems are able to generate human-like text that is coherent and logical, and can be used in a variety of PR applications, including content creation, summarization, and data analysis. NLG systems are able to analyze data and generate reports, summaries, and other types of written content, which can save time and improve efficiency for businesses and organizations.
Overall, the latest developments in AI research related to PR have the potential to greatly improve the way businesses and organizations interact with their customers and the public. From chatbots and virtual assistants to social media marketing and NLG systems, AI is transforming the way we communicate and interact with the world around us.
But not every request can be handled perfectly by the AI system. There are also numerous examples where AI fails. In scientific papers and the like, the source information is missing and references and literature are freely invented. Also, the contents are mostly generic and are also detected as plagiarism by softwares.
Also very important for the use: Many users can not estimate what Chat GPT knows or which information is correct and which is not. Since Chat GPT gives correct answers to many things, this does not mean that you can blindly trust everything the AI tells you. This is especially critical for topics that you as a user can judge little or not at all. It is therefore important to question the answers and classify them accordingly.
Latest trend or old news already?
As already indicated, artificial intelligences have been used in the media world for several years to write articles and other contributions. Our world is so fast-paced that humans can hardly keep up here and are happy to rely on artificial help for standardized news formats. Particularly popular formats that use AI-generated texts are weather reports, sports reports or product descriptions. If you didn’t know, you’d hardly suspect that these texts weren’t written by humans.
But the whole thing is getting bigger. News outlets like DPA for the German market are also using AI for their news. Other big German media that rely on AI in text production are: Der Spiegel, ZEIT, FAZ, Stern and the entire Madsack Media Group. They are all (or at least were) customers of Retresco’s AI offering.
Large tech companies also rely on sophisticated AI systems to analyze and leverage our consumption and surfing behavior: social media like FB, IG, TikTok, etc. want to keep us on the platform longer, e-commerce platforms like, Amazon, Ebay, etc. want to get us to make the next purchase, video platforms like Youtube want us to watch one more video – all driven by algorithms and sophisticated AI systems.
But this is just the beginning! AI can take on even more exciting tasks and do a lot for us. With machine learning, AI systems are becoming increasingly intelligent and human-like. Many new innovations and technologies will advance the field of AI even further in the coming years, opening up even more application areas. A first start is Chat GPT, which could grow into a possible Google alternative.
What we want to show you, is that on the one hand AI is absolutely fascinating, offers so many possibilities of use and at the same time can be quite scary, it appears in places or contexts and has competencies that we might not have expected. On the other hand, we want to show you that although Chat GPT is currently still hyped, it is not a completely new invention. AI has already become an integral part of our professional and private lives. Over the next few years, with constant technological progress, more and more exciting products and services will be offered that will give AI an even more significant place. Whether we will ultimately be completely replaceable is still written in the stars and will probably only become clear in a few years (or decades).
A post by Orchan Ali-Sade & Laura Dörling