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It’s hard to believe, but it has now been almost two years since ChatGPT first appeared. And, in those two years, it sometimes seems like ChatGPT has changed everything. Just to give you a sense of how mainstream ChatGPT has become, a whopping 92% of Fortune 500 companies now use ChatGPT in the workplace.
So what’s next for ChatGPT? The best way to answer that question is to look at some of the innovations that have emerged in recent months, and then speculate how those innovations might impact our lives going forward.
ChatGPT in every device
Perhaps it was inevitable, but ChatGPT is now coming for our mobile devices. It’s no longer just an app that you can install and use occasionally – it’s now something that is emerging as a key selling point for buying the device in the first place. All you have to do is turn on the TV, and you’ll see what I mean. One moment, you’re watching a Google commercial featuring Gemini AI. The next moment, you’re watching an Apple commercial featuring Apple Intelligence. The common denominator, of course, is artificial intelligence.
Looking ahead, it’s quite likely that ChatGPT will be coming for other devices as well, including those in the home. Now that ChatGPT has new voice capabilities, it’s easy to see how it could usurp the role formerly played by Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri.
Or, consider the fact that Volkswagen is now embedding ChatGPT’s new voice assistant into its new Jetta models. It reminds me of the day when automakers first started including satellite radio, GPS, and driver assist functionality – once one vehicle had it, they all had it. So it’s highly unlikely the trend will end with the VW Jetta. Look for ChatGPT soon in other vehicles.
How much money are you willing to pay for AI?
If you’ve been following all the drama with OpenAI (creators of ChatGPT), which has had some highly public blowups involving its founders and chief scientists, one thing is clear: OpenAI has some highly ambitious goals for the future direction of ChatGPT. They aren’t going to be content simply with cute little AI features embedded into email to help you write better messages, or friendly little voice assistants that aim to make you smarter and more productive each day.
OpenAI is clearly thinking about ways to monetize AI in new and unique ways. Consider, for example, how many different versions of ChatGPT there are these days. Each one, it seems, is being created for a slightly different demographic. According to OpenAI, there are now 1 million paid users for different ChatGPT versions. So even if you may not be willing to pay for ChatGPT, plenty of other people are.
What’s new with ChatGPT?
The newest version (known as “Strawberry”) of ChatGPT claims to excel at math and STEM-related fields. While it is slower than previous versions of ChatGPT, it is also much better at fact-checking. And OpenAI says the extra time needed to come up with results is proof that the AI is now “thinking” on its own. One recent proof-of-concept just absolutely blew me away: in the span of just a few minutes, ChatGPT was able to code an entire video game from scratch, based on just a few prompts.
That’s certainly impressive, but just keep in mind: ChatGPT is not perfect yet. We’ve all heard about its strange “hallucinations,” when it tells you something is a fact when it most obviously is not. And now ChatGPT’s new voice assistant appears to scream at people in the middle of a conversation, for no apparent reason. I guess that’s weird and strange, but it’s also a bit comforting, isn’t it? ChatGPT is just like you and me, only a bit smarter.
