Chat GPT-4 is here - Will it change our lives?

The tech world is celebrating the latest version of ChatGPT-4.  

"Chat GPT has grown up," said Hod Lipson, Columbia University Professor of Engineering.  

The AI chatbot known as ChatGPT was born in November 2022 and is already reaching adulthood, with its creator, the Microsoft-funded Open AI updating the technology for a fourth time, making the ghost in the machine smarter, faster -– even funnier.  

Here’s an example of a ChatGPT joke:

Why did Madonna cross the road?

To strike a pose on the other side

GPT-3 could write poems, solve problems and summarize texts, but there were concerns about its accuracy. With GPT-4 –- those kinks got fixed. In fact – it passed numerous tests, the GRE, MCAT, LSAT and SAT’s, with above-average performance. This version can even understand pictures.  

"Somebody tried this," Lipson said. "They showed it here is a picture of my fridge, what can I make for dinner?"

Seeing yogurt and strawberries, ChatGPT suggested a parfait. It’s quite the breakthrough for AI.  

"It behooves us to think about how we can use this incredible power," Lipson said.

It can translate, calculate, and code. For people without access to a doctor, ChatGPT’s expertise can save lives. But with all the good ChatGPT brings, tech experts admit this raw intelligence is a double-edged sword in the wrong hands.  

"You can create spam, you can create emails that are very convincing, you can trick people," Lipson warned. "I think you can use this technology to build and design things that maybe we shouldn’t be designing and building."

This version can be trained faster, and new upgrades will be coming constantly. While very advanced, AI still can’t understand and respond to body language, gossip, or just make small talk about nothing. But ChatGPT version 4.0 shows the evolution of AI is exponential.    

"This is exciting and terrifying at the same time, I have to admit," Lipson said.