As a result of the public’s renewed interest in the underlying technology due to the success of OpenAI’s text-based artificial intelligence (AI) platform ChatGPT and its many applications, one executive of a cryptocurrency exchange has chosen to test ChatGPT’s capabilities in identifying vulnerabilities in Ethereum (ETH) smart contracts. With GPT-4, Ethereum smart contract flaws can be easily identified.
Conor Grogan, director of cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase, said in a tweet on March 14 that he had explicitly injected a live Ethereum contract into the most recent iteration of the well-known chatbot, GPT-4, exposing numerous security flaws and surface areas where the smart contract could be exploited.
Chat GPT is capable of identifying problems
Furthermore, Grogan shared screenshots of the AI bot’s analysis, which appear to demonstrate that ChatGPT can accurately identify critical problems and vulnerabilities. According to the AI bot’s analysis, the analysed smart contract “should not be used, as it contains critical vulnerabilities and is based on an illegal scheme,” so Grogan added.
Nevertheless, there was significant debate in the comments as to whether the updated AI tool could identify these smart contract flaws on its own or only highlight already published information about them.
Indeed, Grogan noted that the contract in question had been compromised in 2018 using the flaws the AI tool highlighted. This prompted some commenters to claim that Grogan was merely listing the problems that had already been made public before the AI tool’s training data cutoff in September 2021 and that it might not be as accurate with an unknown smart contract that had never been exploited.
GPT-4 can instantly identify Ethereum smart contract flaws
Whether ChatGPT discovered the intelligent contract’s flaws on its own or was simply repeating information that was already on the internet, its capabilities are still considerable. They may be helpful to in auditing smart contracts as well as other cryptocurrency-related areas, like making educated predictions about the future value of cryptocurrencies like Polygon.
However, some detractors, like Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, have claimed that ChatGPT may be biased in discussing certain subjects that are viewed as controversial. As a result, Musk is said to have started thinking about the possibility of creating a ChatGPT alternative while making light of the need for “TruthGPT.”
I dumped a live Ethereum contract into GPT-4.
In an instant, it highlighted a number of security vulnerabilities and pointed out surface areas where the contract could be exploited. It then verified a specific way I could exploit the contract pic.twitter.com/its5puakUW
— Conor (@jconorgrogan) March 14, 2023
Conor Twitter, “I dumped a live Ethereum contract into GPT-4. Instantly, it highlighted several security vulnerabilities and pointed out surface areas where the contract could be exploited. It then verified a specific way I could exploit the contract.”