ChatGPT is getting a lot of press right now and has catapulted artificial intelligence (AI) into the eyes of the general public in a very big way. While it isn’t the first generative AI, it achieved a surprisingly fast rate of adoption and is presenting an interesting look into the future of AI. Some people are already talking about how ChatGPT and other AI tools will replace jobs in the near future.

But before we ask ourselves what the future of ChatGPT is and what could happen if it becomes monetized or suddenly disappears, let us first discuss what it is. Why is it so popular?

The Rise of ChatGPT

ChatGPT is a generative artificial intelligence (AI) model  – a computer program trained to interact with people through chats in a conversational way. Compared to the common AI functions of analyzing data, generative AI churns out novel content such as art, music, or text.

Some people, agencies, and companies are using ChatGPT to generate written materials such as blogs, poetry, research papers, and even code for developers, in seconds. Its creator OpenAI trains the language model on large datasets and it uses machine learning algorithms to generate new content so it learns and improves as it receives more data every day.

This kind of AI is very useful to reduce the amount of time put into work and research. But it also has limitations. ChatGPT cannot produce new content beyond 2021 data that it has been trained on. It is dependent on specific text prompts to produce solid content that makes sense. There are also instances when it produces incorrect information but makes it sound correct, which is dangerous if the user is not careful.

ChatGPT and other generative AI programs are improving day by day. The future is bright, but it also comes with its challenges.

The Future of ChatGPT: Monetized?

Within five days of its launch in November 2022, ChatGPT already amassed 1 million users.

Due to the demand from workers wanting to make their jobs easier, OpenAI announced that they have plans in the future to monetize ChatGPT and allow businesses and app developers to integrate the AI model into their own apps and services. They are planning to make ChatGPT a cloud API, employing a pay-per-use service and doubling the volume of replies from the free version.

OpenAI is also in talks with Microsoft to integrate ChatGPT functions into the IT giant’s proprietary software. Microsoft will in turn invest $10 billion in ChatGPT and offer its processing power to help them train its language AI systems.

When we integrate ChatGPT into various apps and services in the future, businesses may drastically improve their systems, shorten project delivery times, and heighten overall efficiencies.

As it continues to grow and improve for years, ChatGPT may threaten to replace a few job positions or may “dumb down” or mute the skills and capabilities of those who use it. Even this early, there are several tips and guides emerging on how to create text prompts that will make the most out of ChatGPT. There are also some ideas floating on whether there will be text prompt professionals and positions in the future.

Despite looming concerns, the AI system seeks to assist workers and automate systems that can benefit an organization’s growth and development.

What Are Other Generative AI Alternatives Out There?

If ChatGPT goes away today, there would be less impact, as the AI model is not yet officially and widely used in workspaces. It would take around one to three years of usage in more work settings and integrations for people to feel the impact of the loss.

The public would just either be back to using old-fashioned Google and other search engines to find links that can answer their questions, or turn to other companies that can provide the kind of function ChatGPT provides.

ChatGPT is only one of the many generative AIs out there. There are other alternatives that work and feel like ChatGPT, which the public can also enjoy using. Here are some of them:

1. Grammarly: This is the most widely known generative AI to date. It helps people to polish their writing as they go, and be more efficient in writing in English with fewer mistakes.
2. Jasper AI and Content at Scale: These are generative AI copywriting tools mostly for marketing and advertising companies and agencies. Both produce search engine optimized short-form and long-form written materials based on prompts like ChatGPT. Jasper AI is affordable for a single marketer and is more suitable for short-form copies, while Content at Scale is reliable in producing a number of long-form articles, but the price point is meant more for agencies and companies.
3. DesignerBot: This generative AI tool can create 10 to 20 PowerPoint slides from a single prompt, complete with layout, text, photos, and icons within the presentation.
4. DALL-E2: Also by OpenAI, this generative AI tool can produce sets of original images, artworks, and graphics at a time, based on descriptive prompts or upload of an image.
5. Amper Music: It is an AI music composition tool that lets its creators, video and podcast producers, and others to easily generate original music.
6. Runway: It is a generative AI video editor, where creators can do real-time video editing, collaborate, and automate other editing tasks such as subtitles and noise removal. It can also produce images which can be included in the video editing process.
7. Replica Studios: It is an AI voice generation tool that can produce human-like voice for  different character lines in stories, videos, games, and other applications. These are mostly used by creatives, video and game makers, and many more.

While these examples are good for individuals, companies can take advantage of extensive AI capabilities to advance their operations, and generative AI is only one part of the equation.

Machine learning and AI solutions can enhance the speed and quality of workflows that can increase the rate of pacing and scaling for organizations and enterprises. Through automation, generation, pattern recognition, and prediction, some leading AI systems can analyze large organizational data and pain points, optimize existing workflows, data and systems, as well as integrate those optimizations in the creation of turnkey solutions and intelligent apps. 

ChatGPT is just one of the many AI solutions that demonstrates the power and capabilities of AI technology in revolutionizing the way we create and do work. AI is not just a pipe dream anymore or a far-future thing we only see in movies. Thanks to the current hype around AI, it is breaking into the mainstream, it’s not going away, and it is slowly being integrated into our daily lives.

This article was originally published on the author’s blog and has been reprinted with permission.