Artis Vizbelis

Senior Consultant, Tax Reporting, Accounting and Strategy, PwC Latvia

Technologies, especially artificial intelligence (AI), seem to be evolving faster than people are able to perceive their significance. This is still a hot topic not only in Hollywood but also in everyday life. AI tools are now being widely used by students and entrepreneurs who recognise potential uses of this technology. This growing interest has led to the creation of many tools of this kind, such as ChatGPT, Bing ChatGPT, Jasper, and Google Bard. This article explores the most popular and capable AI tool, ChatGPT, and its newest version, GPT-4, as well as looking at what it’s capable of doing and what its limitations are.

How you use it

The principle of using GPT-4 is quite straightforward. The user inputs data in the form of images or text, and GPT-4 will process and analyse it to output a result matching the question asked by the user. The tool has a very wide range of uses, from searching for simple facts and writing motivation letters, to setting up a profitable business. More details of GPT-4 can be found here.

ChatGPT’s popularity means we can find a lot of examples of how to use it creatively and efficiently. A striking example is Ammaar Reshi, who was able to create a simple yet fully functioning video game within 20 minutes, having no prior knowledge of JavaScript, a programming language (details here). GPT-4’s capabilities are also demonstrated by how well it passes various standardised exams: 163 out of 180 points in LSAT (Law School Admission Test), 700 out of 800 points in SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) Math, and 710 out of 800 points in SAT Evidence-Based Reading & Writing. GPT-4 is able to achieve better results in these exams than at least 88% of all human candidates, which perfectly illustrates how much the user of this comparably new tool can do by pressing just a few buttons.

Another example of how GPT-4 works is building a website. The user draws the desired layout and appearance of a website on a piece of paper, inputs the image into GPT-4, and the tool will create a website for the user. Yet the most striking example of GPT-4’s capabilities is Be My Eyes. This company uses GPT-4’s ability to convert an image into text in order to help visually impaired people cope with everyday situations without the help of other people. The app can, for instance, not only identify the contents of the user’s fridge but also assess what meal can be prepared using those components. The tool may then offer several recipes and send detailed instructions (details here).

Limitations

While ChatGPT is a very capable tool, it has significant limitations, for example:

• ChatGPT sometimes generates seemingly plausible but incorrect or illogical answers. This issue is difficult to resolve because (1) there is currently no source of truth in place to avoid the output of wrong answers, and (2) more cautious training could cause the tool to reject questions it can answer correctly.
• ChatGPT is sensitive to the input phrasing being changed or the same question being asked differently. For example, if you frame your question in a certain way, the tool may say it doesn’t know the answer, but if you slightly rephrase your question then it may be answered correctly.
• The tool outputs long answers and excessively uses certain phrases. These issues arise while the tool is being trained because its trainers often prefer longer answers that sound smarter and more accurate.
• Facing unclear questions, the tool usually tries to guess what the user meant, which may lead to misunderstood questions and contexts. Ideally, the tool would ask for clarification to avoid such cases.
• The availability issue remains unresolved. OpenAI, the company that developed this tool, uses servers that are unable to meet the huge demand, so the tool slows down and sometimes even becomes unavailable.
• The tool’s capabilities and accuracy very much depend on the input language, as it uses all the digitally available information in the language in which the user asked their question. So GPT-4’s capabilities are significantly reduced if the user writes in a language that has a smaller user base, such as Latvian, Estonian, Lithuanian, or Icelandic.

Despite having a variety of limitations that reduce its capabilities, GPT-4 is an impressive tool that can perform various standardised tasks considerably faster and better than most people. And tools like this are becoming increasingly smarter, which indicates their potential to perform more complex and creative tasks. Everyone is advised to monitor how AI tools evolve and to get to know their functions, as they are fast becoming an everyday feature in business, academia, and careers.