At the end of November an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT was launched by OpenAI. It became viral even faster than TikTok earlier, gaining more than 100 million active users in two months’ time (ZDNET 2023). Since then a vivid discussion has been going on about the opportunities and limitations of ChatGPT – in addition to those of AI in general.
So, I also had to try it out! Our DigiReactor team is currently writing a handbook based on the experiences gathered during two rounds of breakfast events and coaching sets within the last one and a half years. The aim of the handbook is to introduce the key competences needed when starting digital service development and our approach of supporting the participants in creating them.
One of the key competences identified is diversity. What I did was to ask the ChatGPT question: “Explain the role of diversity in digital service development”. What I got was the following:
Diversity plays a crucial role in digital service development, as it leads to a more inclusive and innovative approach to problem-solving. A diverse team of individuals with different backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and skills can bring new ideas and approaches to the table, leading to more creative and effective solutions.
Additionally, diversity in digital service development can lead to a better understanding of the diverse needs of customers, which is essential for creating digital services that are accessible and relevant to a wide range of users. Teams with diverse backgrounds are more likely to identify and address the unique needs of different segments of the population, and to design digital services that meet the needs of diverse customer groups.
[…]
In conclusion, diversity is an important factor in digital service development, as it promotes innovation, leads to better understanding of customer needs, and contributes to a positive and inclusive work environment. Companies that prioritize diversity in their digital service development efforts are likely to see significant benefits in terms of product quality, customer satisfaction, and overall success.
All this was produced within seconds! As the text appeared on the screen, I felt a lot of mixed feelings. The text was good, even if a bit generic. My first worry was, if I and my professional skills will be useless from here on. What actually do I have to add on that? Have I lost the battle over expertise to ChatGPT?
After fifteen minutes of melancholy I realised it. Since ChatGPT is working on previously published texts and calculating probabilities of words to appear together, it will never be able to create anything that is both new and innovative! At worst it can even fabricate or hallucinate stuff that is not true.
For instance, AI cannot know the lived-experiences of our participants. Amari Kaura is one of our DigiReactor participant from this winter. Her comment exemplifies the relevance of diversity in digital service development in a more meaningful way than ChatGPT will ever be able to do, I think. She says,
“DigiReactor coaching set gave me an opportunity to co-operate with people who have more technical skills than I have. This is rare to an arts student.
I often get comments on my idea that it is too big and ambitious. Now, for the first time, my idea was taken seriously, and I got an opportunity to work on it and develop it further.”
In the battle between ChatGPT and me, I am still winning. With a good heart, I can continue writing composite narratives on situations where and how to use the key competences of digital service development to our handbook. It will be released in the summer. Stay tuned!
Check out also:
- Insider (1.3.2023, Sindhu Sundar) If you still aren’t sure what ChatGPT is, this is your guide to the viral chatbot that everyone is talking about: https://www.businessinsider.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-chat-gpt-2023-1?r=US&IR=T)
- ChatGPT at OpenAI: https://chat.openai.com/
- UPDATE: New version of ChatGPT, GPT-4 released March 14 to ChatGPT Plus subscribers.
- UPDATE: A newspaper article (The Guardian) on that: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/mar/14/chat-gpt-4-new-model
Satu Aaltonen
Project Researcher
Turku School of Economics
University of Turku