ChatGPT: Everything you need to know

PLUS: The uncertain future of education, the internet, and the tech industry. [View in browser]( | [Your newsletter preferences](newsletter=wir) By Tom Simonite | 01.29.23 In November, artificial intelligence startup OpenAI launched a chatbot named ChatGPT. The future of education, the internet, and the tech industry have felt somewhat uncertain since. WIRED has spent the past few weeks exploring the [eloquent bot’s power](—[and shortcomings](. Bots are nothing new, but ChatGPT is unusually slick with language thanks to a training process that included digesting billions of words scraped from the web and other sources. Its ability to generate short essays, literary parodies, and even functional computer code made it a social media sensation and the [tech industry’s newest obsession](. ChatGPT is free for now, but investors are convinced the technology will become the basis of [many new companies and products](, perhaps including a new form of web search. At the same time, it has a tendency to [fabricate facts and repeat slurs or biases]( from its online training data. That has led to proposals to regulate the barely-launched technology. The bot’s power has also prompted reflections on how humans are far from perfect and can [spew bot-like BS of their own](. Furthermore, some schoolteachers have concluded that ChatGPT and other bots like it are here to stay; instead of trying to ban the technology, they’re [embracing ChatGPT as a classroom tool]( to foster a more human-centric kind of learning. Whether you’ve already chatted with the bot or aren’t yet acquainted, explore our coverage below to learn more about the promises and perils of ChatGPT. [Portrait of Andy Greenberg] [Tom Simonite](, Senior Editor, Business Find me on Twitter [@tsimonite](   P.S. For the latest on every AI advancement—and other upwellings of the future in the present—be sure to sign up for senior writer Will Knight's [Fast Forward newsletter](. [GET FAST FORWARD](   [The silhouette of the back of a woman looking at a large pink abstract piece of AI art]( [PLAINTEXT | 7-MINUTE READ]( [Welcome to the Wet Hot AI Chatbot Summer]( BY STEVEN LEVY [The next big thing in tech isn’t the blockchain or the metaverse—it’s a mind-bending wave of algorithmic content machines.](   [mosaic blue tiled art]( [TELL ME LIES | 4-MINUTE READ]( [ChatGPT’s Most Charming Trick Is Also Its Biggest Flaw]( BY WILL KNIGHT [The articulate new chatbot has won over the internet and shown how engaging conversational AI can be—even when it makes stuff up.](   [Dry alphabet soup pasta]( [FUTURES MARKET | 4-MINUTE READ]( [ChatGPT Has Investors Drooling—but Can It Bring Home the Bacon?]( BY WILL KNIGHT [The loquacious bot has Microsoft ready to sink a reported $10 billion into OpenAI. It’s unclear what products can be built on the technology.](   [Two white mice hiding inside a hole, and a cat peeking through the other side. A tense standoff. ]( [PLAINTEXT | 6-MINUTE READ]( [How to Stop ChatGPT from Going Off the Rails]( BY AMIT KATWALA [The viral chatbot wasn’t up to writing a WIRED newsletter. But it's fluent enough to raise questions about how to keep eloquent AI systems accountable.](   [Students sitting at desks with laptops in a high school classroom ]( [CHEAT CODE | 5-MINUTE READ]( [ChatGPT Is Coming for Classrooms. Don't Panic]( BY PIA CERES [The AI chatbot has stoked fears of an educational apocalypse. Some teachers see it as the reboot education sorely needs.](   [Two nearly identical cube prisms on a red background except one cube has a bright blue lens flare beaming off of it; spot the difference concept]( [EAGLE EYES | 3-MINUTE READ]( [How to Spot AI-Generated Art, According to Artists]( BY REECE ROGERS [Creatives disagree about the ethical uses of these tools, but one thing is clear: AI art identification is about to become a whole lot harder.](   More on ChatGPT - [ChatGPT, Galactica, and the Progress Trap]( - [The Spawn of ChatGPT Will Try to Sell You Things]( - [ChatGPT Stole Your Work. So What Are You Going to Do?]( - [Opinion: 3 Ways to Tame ChatGPT]( - [ChatGPT Isn’t the Only Way to Use AI in Education]( - [Podcast: How These AI-Powered Chatbots Keep Getting Better]( - [ChatGPT’s Fluent BS Is Compelling Because Everything Is Fluent BS]( [GET WIRED]( [Get WIRED for just $29.99 $5. Includes unlimited access to wired.com plus free stickers!]([Subscribe now.]( [(image) WIRED Logo]( [(image) WIRED on Facebook]( [(image) WIRED on Twitter]( [(image) WIRED on Instagram]( [(image) WIRED on LinkedIn]( [(image) WIRED on YouTube]( [Podcasts]( Have questions or comments? [Reply to this email](mailto:hello@wired.com?subject=WIRED%20Newsletter%20Questions,%20Comments%20or%20Feedback). This e-mail was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, wired@newsletters.wired.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe]( or [Manage your newsletter subscriptions](newsletter=wir) Copyright © Condé Nast 2023. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.