ChatGPT seems like it started in a sleepy way and overnight took off like a rocket. Until a few weeks ago I never thought much about it, and now I am thinking about it all the time. I've seen some illustrations and think this will be a major game changer in how we gather information. This is the next step in the use of artificial intelligence.
My first awareness of ChatGPT came last year when both Fairleigh Dickinson University and Baruch College, where I teach as an adjunct professor, regularly began warning me about making sure my students did not submit papers prepared by ChatGPT. I also occasionally noticed article headlines about its potential misuse. Otherwise it caused me no concern.
A few weeks ago, I was asked to review some tax opinions generated by ChatGPT and they blew my mind. They were adequate, not great, but also not bad, and I then realized the potential for how it could rapidly "grow" in the next year and thereafter. If I measured the opinions by perfection, they would be given a low grade, but so would any infant trying to fit square and triangle blocks into the right spaces. However, at some point, the baby would figure it out … and so would ChatGPT. And that is the potential I see.
We could spend hours criticizing the baby and also ChatGPT, but that would serve no productive purpose. That time instead needs to be spent appreciating the future potential of the infant and also of ChatGPT. This is cutting-edge stuff.
Right now, when I have a tax question, I go to my browser and type in a question. Not the topic, but a regular question. And the results show almost instantly dozens of articles containing references to my subject matter. That gives me a great start. With ChatGPT, that same question would generate a short article, in prose, providing the answer. That is a much better start and will save time searching the database of articles for which ones to scan or read to get a start in my research. ChatGPT will jumpstart my work. Of course, what's generated would not be provided to a client, but it will be a much better start than a listing of articles my original question would generate. The next step would be to do the proper research.
I don't know all the benefits to this new AI iteration, but what I've already seen has gotten me excited about its benefits and how it could be used to save me time. This is new and I suggest approaching it with some skepticism but also with an open mind. Test it a few times and see for yourself. If you are worried about this replacing you, you probably aren't doing too much right now to create value for your clients, which should be the primary focus of your services. ChatGPT and competing services are at the frontier of creating added power for us. Find out how to harness that power to make you even more relevant to your clients than you are presently.
I tested ChatGPT with a nonfinancial question and received an immediate response. I then had two follow-up questions and each time received more specific responses. These responses pointed me toward a further direction I wasn't aware of. I liked what I got.
ChatGPT is new and, like everything that is new, it creates a change. Do not fight it. Try it. You might like it.
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