Silicon Valley sees AI and ChatGPT as the next platform

What Silicon Valley insiders mean when they say ChatGPT and Generative AI are “the next platform”:

• Users are rushing to try it – and stick with it.

• Entrepreneurs are finding endless new applications for it.
• Companies don’t yet know how to cash in on it, but they’re sure it’s coming.

Why is it important? Any new technology that checks all of these boxes and throws new surprises at us gets the world’s attention – as did previous platforms, from the iPhone to the Internet itself to the rise of the personal computer.

The big picture: The tech industry has trumpeted the past few years for “next platform” candidates who have yet to deliver on their promises.

• Key examples: the cryptocurrency movement’s blockchain dreams and Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse vision.

But a lot of people With long-term visions, you believe that the AI ​​shift is different – and in fact it is.

• Software veteran Dere Obasanjo recently announced on Twitter.

Steven Sinofsky In the year He is a former Microsoft executive who warned Bill Gates about the disruptive potential of the Internet in 1994. Note that AI can quickly enter our lives using existing tools and services.

• Large language models such as ChatGTP represent the first technology development that has the potential to be deployed seamlessly in 7. [billion] Smartphones and therefore can be a platform change,” Sinofsky He tweeted. earlier this week.

Be smart. In the world of social media, a “platform” has come to mean a forum for users to talk. But in the broader technology industry, a platform is any technological foundation upon which new products and businesses are built.

• These platforms have been appearing at a once-a-decade rhythm since the dawn of computing.
• “Tech is going through a 10-year platform shift as you deploy mobile/social/cloud,” says Sinofsky.

what’s happening: Many users’ first experience with generative AI came with OpenAI’s ChatGPT public test that opened on November 30, and more recently, Microsoft’s ChatGPT adaptation of the Bing search engine is available in limited testing for now. .

• As millions of users test these tools, they’re envisioning countless applications, from writing legal briefs and conducting medical examinations to writing screenplays and editing software.
• About half of the new code developers are contributing to Microsoft-owned Github’s repositories is now being created with its CoPilot programming assistant, a technology similar to ChatGPT’s optimization for code.
• If a business or field involves words, images, sound or code, creative AI can take it for a ride.

Between the lines; Microsoft and OpenAI call their offerings public tests and betas because they know they are deeply imperfect.

• ChatGPT cannot always distinguish fact from fiction and is prone to making up answers.
• This week, the Bing bot, which had been pushed to extremes by some users, started acting in different ways – feeling angry, expressing love, saying it wanted to be human.
• While the internet has been plagued by Bing’s inefficiency, Microsoft says it blames the slow conversations and is working to eliminate them.

Our thought bubble: Again, the tech industry is not waiting for approval, nor is fear of unintended consequences slowing the rush to deploy new technology.

• Dominating a new platform is a very powerful lure, and companies worry about losing it. As with previous stage shifts, dealing with any legal, social, or ethical failures will be sprinkled along the way.

What’s next: Today, the Axios technology team is launching “AI’s turn,” a series about the current technology storm of change in a world that’s either ready or not.

• We will look at: the many legal questions surrounding generative AI; How “Rapid Engineering” Could Be the Next Growth Industry; Misinformation keeps professionals up at night; Why fixing AI flaws can be difficult; And much more.
• Even today, From the Axios Codebook: How AI is Powering the World of Creative Cybersecurity