The Curious Companion: Ep. 4 – Overhyped or Underestimated: Is ChatGPT Coming for Your Job?
Curious Reader! Welcome to this week’s ChatGPT Curious companion newsletter. First off, a HUGE thank you for such a warm welcome and incredible response to the launch. Ya’ll are the best. 💚 What you came for is below, and you can CLICK HERE to listen to the episode if you decide you prefer earbuds to eyeballs. Happy reading! This episode digs into whether ChatGPT is as transformative as headlines make it seem, or whether its impact, especially on jobs, is being overstated. Using the release of GPT-5 as a backdrop, I break down what’s new, what’s hype, and why the reality is more nuanced than the marketing. From AI “agents” to AGI, we explore what’s actually happening, what’s being promised, and what it means for the average worker. The Launch of GPT-5OpenAI serendipitously released GPT-5 on August 7th, the same day ChatGPT Curious launched. I promise I don’t have any inside sources. The announcement included claims of “PhD-level intelligence,” improved benchmark performance, and new integrations with email and calendars. My Takeaways:
If you’d like to check out the OpenAI announcements yourself: Overhyped or Underestimated?As much as I love ChatGPT, I lean toward overhyped when it comes to mainstream coverage. While ChatGPT has enormous potential, it’s not coming for everyone’s job tomorrow. Let’s be wary of headlines that can be translated into: “Guy who stands to make a lot of money if AI succeeds, claims that AI will definitely succeed!” The narrative that AI is replacing entire roles is often driven by:
What the Research SaysA recent Microsoft study analyzed 200,000 Bing Copilot conversations. The findings were as follows:
To summarize: AI is definitely being used but it’s really difficult to predict with any kind of certainty how it’s going to change things and who it’s going to replace. Three Terms to Know (Because I Want Ya’ll to Be Informed Consumers)
My Final ThoughtsChatGPT has a ton of potential and I think that it could be very very helpful and beneficial…and also, I think it’s a bit overhyped as it relates to the marketing geared towards the average user. I think it will change many things in the work force, but what exactly, and how, is really difficult to predict. ChatGPT is powerful and evolving, but much of its marketing feels a bit “cart before the horse” in that consumers are being presented with a solution and being told to go find a problem. Lastly, if you want to AI-proof/future-proof your job, my suggestion is to start using ChatGPT now. Experiment with it, see how it fits your workflow, and grow alongside the technology. How I Used ChatGPT “Recently”Each episode I include a section where I briefly discuss how I used ChatGPT that day/week. “Today’s” use is a pseudo-throwback, but I wanted to share it while the podcast is still new. In an effort to make this podcast as meta as possible, I used an AI music-generating software called Suno (yes, that is an affiliate link) to create the intro music. I used ChatGPT to help me refine the description of what I wanted the music to actually sound like, and then input that text into Suno. Several iterations later, followed by some rearranging of the generated tracks, I had the intro music you hear today (if you choose to listen to an episode). That’s it for today’s episode. Always grateful for you. Questions, comments, concerns, additions, subtractions, requests? Hit reply or head to the website (chatgptcurious.com) and use that contact form. I’d love to hear from you. Catch you next Thursday. Maestro out. AI Disclaimer: In the spirit of transparency (if only we could get that from these tech companies), this email was generated with a very solid alley-oop from ChatGPT. I write super detailed outlines for every podcast episode (proof here), and then use ChatGPT to turn those into succinct, readable recaps that I lightly edit to produce these Curious Companions. Could I “write” it all by hand? Sure. Do I want to? Absolutely not. So instead, I let the robot do the work, so I can focus on the stuff that I actually enjoy doing and you get the content delivered to your digital doorstep, no AirPods required. High fives all around. Did someone forward you this email? Stay curious. |