In recent years, AI chatbots like ChatGPT have gained popularity among both students and working class professionals. There has been a lot of research going on in the Artificial Intelligence sector to improve the working efficiency of these AI softwares. These chatbots like ChatGPT are constantly updated by their parent company which in GPT’s case is OpenAI. Several chatbots with features similar to those of ChatGPT were launched in the last few months.
Another similar chatbot called Pi has been recently launched by an AI startup called Inflection. The AI development firm was founded by LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman and Google DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman last year in March. Just a year and two months after their inception, the AI company has come out with their very own chatbot to compete with ChatGPT and other similar AI software in the market.
Credits: ZDNET
Why the AI chatbot industry?
In recent years, the popularity of chatbots powered by artificial intelligence like ChatGPT have been on the rise. The interesting part about these tools is that they are capable of conversing like humans and answering queries in real time without taking lot of time. This has made them an important tool with great functionality for people from all backgrounds.
Another reason of the growing popularity of such tools could be the availability of 24/7 service. Chatbots can also respond to queries in mere seconds and provide personalized recommendations to the user. Moreover, such tools have a wide variety of uses. The application of such chatbots in our lives is useful in various sectors including healthcare, education, finance, and e-commerce. There are ongoing considerations and experiments to be able to develop these AI softwares to an extent where they can give basic healthcare advice and personalized recommendations to patients in hospitals. Apart from the healthcare industry, the usage of such technology in the education sector is also being looked at. AI chatbots could be developed to provide students with one on one doubt clearing sessions and personalized feedback on their weak and strong points.
AI: Friend or foe?
Although there are numerous positives to the development of Artificial Intelligence technology including AI based chatbots, there also have been a number of concerns surrounding their development. Some people who have worked in the field of AI and even contributed to the creation of similar technologies have often publicly expressed their concerns on the speedy development of AI technology. Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, Elon Musk has on multiple occasions stated that the way AI technology is being developed right now gives it the potential to end our civilization. He highlighted that AI are being trained to withhold information from its users and even lie to them on occasions which might eventually prove to be a wrong practice.
Recently, one of the godfathers of AI, Geoffrey Hinton had quit Google to express his concerns on AI technology. He also claimed that contrary to his previous beliefs, he thinks that artificial intelligence is not so far from human intelligence. The Nobel Prize winner was also heard saying that he regretted contributing to the field. Therefore, although there are numerous benefits to AI technology, the actual outcome of its development could only be seen after a few years.
About Pi:
The founders of the company have said that their chatbot, ‘Pi’, was built on the premise of human conversations and emotions. They have claimed that the chatbot has a high level of emotional intelligence (something that would concern both Elon and Hinton). They have further announced that the chatbot is fit for usage in day to day tasks but people should avoid using it for programming codes and essays. They have also made it very clear that although the bot has an emotional intelligence, it has been trained to know that it is an AI. This is something that it would also keep reminding the users who try and engage in conversations which are romantic or too personal in nature. As of now, the platform will be free to use for everyone and will be available on their website. However, they may launch premium subscriptions in the future.
