Virginia Technology Today

Perspectives is a blog designed to discuss future trends in technology.

Friday, February 10, 2023

ChatGPT and Bing Thoughts

 

Despite signing up for the Bing and ChatGPT preview, I was waitlisted. Deep in the back recesses of my mind, I wonder if this is a marketing stunt, an engineering capacity issue, or something else. My guess is this is a marketing ploy to generate buzz and demand, but we'll have to wait and see. Let's double-click beyond the hype for a minute. ChatGPT and Bing's integration offers several advantages across industries and applications. Consider the following use cases.


* Customer service: The integration gives customers instant and accurate answers to their questions. As a result, customer satisfaction can be significantly improved.

* E-commerce: ChatGPT can provide product recommendations and information, and Bing can search for products and prices, making the shopping experience more seamless and efficient for customers.

* Healthcare: The integration can provide medical professionals and patients quick access to reliable health information. Think about this use case in emergencies where time is of the essence.

* Education: Consider building virtual learning environments, allowing students to access information and have their questions answered in near real-time.

* In software development, the integration can provide code samples and answer simple to immediate questions in different programming languages. ChatGPT is excellent at answering simple questions like "write a simple weibull analysis in C#.". Now imagine adding Bing and Git to the equation.


While these are only a few possibilities, integrating ChatGPT and Bing can improve efficiency and accuracy and provide more reliable information to various industries. I'll let you know how it goes as soon as I gain access.



Thursday, January 12, 2023

Random Thoughts on AI


The different uses of AI in various industries are rapidly evolving, so it is impossible to predict how the market will look by the end of 2023. However, we will likely continue to see advancements in natural language processing, computer vision, and machine learning capabilities. The use of AI in self-driving cars, virtual assistants, and smart home appliances will likely continue to gain traction throughout the year. For my social science friends, AI safety research will become increasingly relevant to ensure the ethical and responsible use of the technology.


I am amazed at the size of the investment Microsoft made in OpenAI. The investment significantly contributes to both companies' research efforts and should pay handsome dividends if used correctly. Even so, it's difficult to predict how influential the investment will be without knowing more about how it will be used. The technology could potentially assist in developing and advancing AI technologies and enable OpenAI to continue its pursuit of creating safe, beneficial solutions. For Microsoft, Bing may become more relevant depending on the level of integration and solutions offered by the two organizations.


While OpenAI is getting many headlines, they are not the only game in town. Many of the world's leading organizations are developing solutions in several sectors, from automotive and healthcare to finance. Platform vendors like Google spend a significant portion of their research and development budget on AI. Several research groups and initiatives at Google are committed to advancing AI, including Google Brain and Cloud AI. Their technology is used in various products and services, including search, maps, and Google Assistant. Additionally, Google develops machine learning tools and platforms like TensorFlow and the Google Cloud AI Platform. The company has also contributed significantly to the open-source AI community by publishing research papers and models.


AI-related technology has also been a significant focus of Amazon's research and development efforts. In addition to personalizing customer recommendations on its e-commerce platform, optimizing its supply chain, and powering Alexa, Amazon uses AI in many other ways. Amazon offers various AI services through its AWS platform, including machine learning and deep learning services. Besides investing in AI startups, Amazon is acquiring companies that leverage the technology, like home security company Ring. Overall, Amazon's investment in AI appears to have improved its operations and allowed it to provide AI services to others.


Other companies, organizations, and startups are also working on AI projects, including IBM, Facebook, Apple, Baidu, Tencent, and Alibaba. They specialize in everything from natural language processing and computer vision to self-driving cars. Many other exciting aspects of AI are not covered here, like what Microsoft is doing with Azure outside of OpenAI, but I'll save that post for another day.


2023 promises to be an exciting year for AI if the hype cycle doesn't outshine the practical benefits and limitations of the technology.


Comments, feedback, and suggestions are always welcome.