AI like chatbots and Chat GPT is becoming increasingly ubiquitous but we will have to handle it with care - Jayne Dowle

It sent a chill down my spine. Far from being excited, I actually will admit to being quite frightened about the prospect of technology that is capable of independent thought, of recognising images in a photograph and being able to compose a credible description of what it sees.

I don’t know if this is because I’m still feeling shaky from a bruising recent encounter with my energy provider, which employs a chat bot irritatingly named ‘Enzo’ to fend off, I mean ‘helpfully direct’ disgruntled paying customers.

The final straw with my relationship with Enzo came on Monday morning, but he (presuming it’s a he, or maybe it’s gender-neutral) informed me, “sorry, I’m a little stuck. I’ll get you to one of my human colleagues who can help”.

That term ‘human colleagues’, so casually thrown in. This is how it starts, I thought to myself and suddenly I was no longer envious of those who own robotic lawnmowers.

So yes, AI is already amongst us. It’s reported that millions of people have used the AI platform ChatGPT, which uses ‘generative artificial intelligence’ since Microsoft launched its new baby in November 2022, helpfully adding the feature onto its Bing search engine. Another reason to swerve Bing and stick with Google, although something tells me it won’t be far behind.

ChatGPT can answer questions using natural, human-like language and mimic other writing styles, using the internet as it was in 2021 as its database. Slightly like William Caxton, when he produced the first printed book in English, The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, in 1473.

Apparently, Microsoft has also said that it will embed a version of the technology in its Office apps, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. So that’s me done for, I think in my darkest hours, because I use Office every day.

I’ve written for a living for more than 30 years. What if my laptop suddenly starts writing things for me? It would be as if it had taken over my soul.

I’m not being entirely selfish here. It’s not just jobbing journalists like me who face financial and emotional breakdown.

Economists at major international banking firm Goldman Sachs warned earlier this week that as many as 300 million full-time jobs around the world could be automated in some way by the newest wave of artificial intelligence, ChatGPT included.

That’s around 18 per cent of all jobs on Earth potentially computerised, and the prospect would affect developed nations the most.

Administrative workers and lawyers are expected to be most affected, the economists said, compared to the “little effect” seen on physically demanding or outdoor occupations, such as construction.

In the United States and Europe, approximately two-thirds of current jobs “are exposed to some degree of AI automation,” and up to a quarter of all work could be done by AI completely, Goldman Sachs estimates.

I’ve always considered myself a proud early adopter of technology, until now. However, if Twitter and Tesla owner Elon Musk is worried, I think we all better sit up and take notice.

He’s headed a public letter from 1,100 tech experts and researchers, arguing that “Advanced AI could represent a profound change in the history of life on Earth, and should be planned for and managed with commensurate care and resources.”

The Italian data protection authority has already banned OpenAI, the US start-up which has created ChatGPT, over fears including the possibility the platform could violate privacy laws and spread misinformation.

Given that our own government can’t even get to grips with regulating online pornography, I’m not holding out much hope that it will be able to keep the likes of ChatGPT tethered.

Please don’t choke on your cornflakes, but do consider AI with the care it is going to demand.