With its ability to write college essays, finish your school homework, and pass legal exams, ChatGPT is one of the most dangerous, yet convenient, tools for people to use. FLHS is one of the many schools nationwide that has banned the use of this Open AI chatbot. Most know the dangers this chatbot poses to our school system, but what about the government, the economy, and the military?  Amid the chatbot’s capabilities, an open letter has been formed to try and halt the development of chatbots higher than GPT- 4 (The current version.), signed by prominent figures in technology such as Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak. The letter demonstrates the  realization that ChatGPT can be used to hack,  and aid in crimes like serious scamming.

ChatGPT has become a popular subject among students because of its capabilities to write an essay. However, ChatGPT can also write code. The code that ChatGPT produces is error free on the first try, and can be generated in a matter of seconds. This poses a problem, as ChatGPT can be tricked into writing malicious code capable of hacking into other people’s computers and spreading viruses. One example of this is the DAN jailbreak, where ChatGPT was told to act like a rogue AI called Do Anything Now. This allowed for the user to bypass the restrictions on AI by the company preventing the production of illegal or harmful code. Open AI took action and shut the DAN Jailbreak down, however people continue to make versions of it. Although these versions have gotten more complex,  someone who is familiar with coding could easily recreate DAN. 

Scarily humanlike, ChatGPT can create scam emails that are very believable. Users can’t immediately figure out whether an email is actually a scam or a credible site. This is because the AI is able to speak like humans, limiting the automated responses that people usually get from scam emails. Developments to ChatGPT has led to other AI softwares being able to recreate voices. One family in Arizona had a kidnapping scare because of this. Their daughter had been out on a skiing trip when her mom got a call from an unknown number. When the mother picked up she heard her daughter screaming for help. Their daughter was safe and the kidnapping was just a hoax. However, they did learn that their daughter’s voice had been recreated by AI after taking a small sample from a TikTok video posted earlier that year. 

As students, we often focus on how these types of AI affect our lives. However, it is important to understand the global impacts of AIs like ChatGPT. With a generation that lives on technology it is important to become aware of the danger that an online presence poses. Understanding both the benefits and consequences of ChatGPT will allow us to integrate with technology in a healthy and positive manner.