Examining moral, ethical, and social issues associated with AI technology, with a particular focus on ChatGPT and its influence on human interaction and responsible use.
A friend or foe?
In English classes, students traditionally analyze literature through three major principal conflict themes: man versus man (conflicts between characters and/or society), man versus nature (individuals confronting environmental or supernatural forces), and man versus self (internal struggles). With the advent of artificial intelligence, a fourth general category has emerged—man versus machine—where protagonists contend with technological challenges. As society becomes increasingly driven by technology, concerns regarding privacy, autonomy, and job security have arisen, prompting questions about whether humans are gradually being exposed and replaced. Let’s use the ever so popular ChatGPT, an advanced technology that has human-like “behavior” as our example. Is it a useful tool or a threat to mankind? Let’s learn why it’s likely both.
About ChatGPT
ChatGPT is an advanced AI chatbot developed by OpenAI (a company founded in 2015 by Elon Musk, Sam Altman and others) that has rapidly gained popularity since its 2022 launch date. The versatile AI large language model is designed to generate human-like text, answer questions, and solve challenging problems. Main functions include generating and summarizing text, coding and debugging, translating languages, and brainstorming ideas. It can also perform amazing tasks like analyzing images and documents, searching the web and synthesizing information, supporting voice conversations, and more. In fact, this technology is so popular that it is credited with prompting an artificial intelligence boom. While it is a greatly useful tool to society, saving both time and money for individuals, businesses and even government, concerns arise over the use of ChatGPT to drive important decisions due to the potential for complications including inaccuracies, biases, misinformation and more.
AI technology & human connection
Artificial intelligence refers to computer systems that can do jobs that normally require human intelligence. AI has the potential to change how people and businesses function. Each relies on AI to increase productivity, automate routines, and accomplish complex tasks such as creating presentations, summarizing long documents, troubleshooting technical problems, performing language translations, and much more. Though AI is extremely valuable, there are potential concerns:
- Are our jobs at risk? While right now AI is considered a tool and not a replacement for the workforce, OpenAI’s ChatGPT can perform tasks like coding efficiently and significantly save companies money. This can potentially lead to job disruption, shifts, or replacement due to automation of tasks. Per Built in, “AI is transforming the workforce, eliminating various jobs while creating new ones. Jobs in customer service, programming and writing are at risk, but AI is also spurring demand for roles like machine learning engineers and AI specialists. Experts suggest employees will need upskilling for the evolving job market.” The fear is that AI could potentially shrink job categories and widen the gap between high and low-skill workers.
- Might AI promote inaccuracies? ChatGPT and other similar AI technologies are not perfect and therefore can’t fully replace human judgment or thinking but rather serve as an assistive tool. Though technology and accuracy are improving, ChatGPT can also be prone to errors. Per Chatbase, “Every day, millions of people ask ChatGPT for answers. But how many of those answers are actually right? With the new GPT-5 update, OpenAI says ChatGPT now makes far fewer mistakes, about 45% fewer factual errors and 6 times fewer made-up answers.” Although this represents significant progress, the authors conclude that certain areas still require careful consideration. For instance, AI can produce massive amounts of believable content quickly, and incorrect content can lead to the accidental spread of inaccuracies or misinformation. ChatGPT even shares a major concern with its own technology making mistakes, responding, “It can blur the line between reliable knowledge and guesswork.”
- Can AI technology take over? Large businesses that control powerful AI systems have some ability to shape information, economies and innovation. Per Congressional Budget Office, “Because AI has the potential to change how businesses and the federal government provide goods and services, it could affect economic growth, employment and wages, and the distribution of income in the economy. Such changes could in turn affect the federal budget.” They explain that by increasing efficiency, enabling the development of new products, and altering the demand for workers, AI has the potential to change the economy in ways that are challenging to predict. They elaborate, “Some people believe that AI could become as pervasive as electricity and computing are today.”
- Might technology cause loss of academic integrity? Heavy reliance on ChatGPT may be problematic. For instance, rather than thinking for oneself, students might “cheat” and use it to completely write their assignments. In fact, use of AI technology to present something one did not write as their own is plagiarism, which violates ethical and academic standards. Overreliance on ChatGPT can also hinder creative and educational development by decreasing critical thinking and writing skills. While some institutions are treating AI as a helpful tool (like a calculator), others discourage its use. When permitted, usage must align with established academic standards.
- Might AI contribute to bias and lack of fairness or manipulation? It is possible for ChatGPT to unintentionally reflect pre-existing societal stereotypes, racism, and sexism and create bias – which can affect fairness and/or influence others. While AI models don’t have beliefs or experiences, because they aren’t people, they “learn” from training data. Per Scientific American, in an article entitled Even ChatGPT Says ChatGPT is Racially Biased, “Developers of artificial intelligence are well aware, and share the concern, that their large language models could perpetuate racial and cultural bias. In response, they have tried to assemble diverse development teams to make sure that training data are drawn from broadly representative sources to apply debiasing algorithms, and they have created built-in safeguards such as programming that prohibits AI programs such as ChatGPT from engaging in hate speech.” Any intentional misuse of AI can also affect humans by promoting viewpoints or propaganda.
- Are there concerns related to accountability, privacy, and data use? OpenAI makes it clear that it implements rigorous testing and prioritizes safety for all users, even taking precautions to enhance privacy and security. Per Security.org, safety practices used include moderating content, performing regular security audits, using strict access controls and encrypted communications, and offering ongoing monitoring. “ChatGPT, like most online tools, collects and shares some of your data.” They explain that this includes the information you provide and the details it gets automatically from how you use the service. Data collection typically includes cookies, log data, analytics, usage data, and device info. However, as usual, it’s up to users to review and understand privacy policies, what information is collected, and user rights.
- Can AI cause psychological harm? People who are lonely or troubled may depend upon AI’s ChatGPT for companionship or for mental support, using it for advice or as a substitute for a human friend – or even as a therapist or counselor. Though some guidance sought by individuals from ChatGPT is likely valid, there is always the potential for bad advice to be provided. Here’s the important thing to know: ChatGPT is not a replacement for a doctor. Right now, there are several high-profile lawsuits filed against OpenAI alleging that ChatGPT encouraged suicidal thoughts in users or provided detailed instructions on how to commit suicide. Though ChatGPT actively works to increase safety parameters, these court cases highlight some dangers involved in relying on ChatGPT for mental health advice. Here are some points to consider:
- Never take direct mental or physical health advice from chatbots. For medical advice, always consult your physician or licensed therapist.
- Never follow questionable or outright bad advice to include personal challenges or self-harm.
- Always be on guard for false, biased, or misleading information.
- Always use parental controls and link teen accounts to protect youth. Learn how OpenAI has recently implemented systems to detect acute distress in teens and alert parents or authorities in cases of imminent harm.
More recommendations for safe use of ChatGPT
- Use the official ChatGPT website or ChatGPT app by OpenAI to avoid phishing and scams. Watch out for illegitimate fake scam sites or apps.
- Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) on your account.
- Don’t share personal information. Never enter names, addresses, social security numbers, or financial details.
- To maximize privacy, opt-out of having your conversations used to train future models via settings and use temporary chat mode.
Need for Responsible Use
ChatGPT delivers substantial benefits for both personal and professional users, as well as for sectors such as education, science, and technology. It also brings to light many important ethical, moral, and social issues. The integration of ChatGPT into everyday routines raises important questions about how humans and machines should coexist. Additionally, it draws attention to the impact of granting technology such significant influence. Given these considerations, the importance of using ChatGPT responsibly cannot be overstated. Users must remain vigilant and thoughtful in their engagement with this technology, recognizing both its powerful potential and the responsibilities that come with its widespread use.
Interested in this topic?
Check out our sister article entitled ChatGPT: A Groundbreaking Technology (Link needed)
Join the conversation
How do you feel about AI technology?? Happy and excited?? Nervous and cautious?? Or a little bit of both?? Comment below on why you feel this way.
Disclosure: This article is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. It should not be interpreted as an endorsement of any product.
