Developed somewhere between Silicon Valley and uncanny valley, ChatGPT is a chatbot that relies on the GPT-3.5 deep learning model. It answers questions, admits mistakes and challenges incorrect premises. And it causes concern. As Australian philosopher David Chalmers wrote in 2020, GPT-3 (a previous iteration) arguably has intelligence and consciousness, if not understanding: ‘Intellectually and practically, we need to handle it with care.’ More recently, others have argued that ChatGPT is highly unethical, because it generates responses by drawing on content without acknowledging or paying creators and authors, and because workers were exploited to train it.
Momentarily putting aside issues of ethics and consciousness, I asked both ChatGPT and GPT-3 if they had any predictions for media in 2023.
‘I'm sorry, I am not able to make predictions about media trends for 2023,’ responded ChatGPT. ‘My training data only goes up to 2021 and I do not have the ability to predict future events. However, I can provide you with general trends and current happenings ...’
Ok, based on your training data, what are media trends for 2023?
‘Based on my training data, a few trends that could continue to shape the media landscape in 2023 include:
- The continued growth of streaming services and the decline of traditional cable television.
- The increasing importance of social media and user-generated content in shaping public opinion and driving news coverage.
- The ongoing shift towards digital content consumption, with more and more people getting their news and entertainment online.
- The growing use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in media production and distribution, including the use of AI to create personalized content and recommendations.
- The rise of podcasts and audio-based content, driven by the popularity of smart speakers and other audio-enabled devices.
- The continued importance of mobile devices as a primary means of accessing media, with more and more people using smartphones and tablets to consume content on-the-go.
The ongoing debate over the role of technology companies in moderating and regulating online content.Keep in mind, these are general trends and does not guarantee the future outcome.’
That seems a fairly sensible list of trends, though some could be challenged. To be honest, I preferred GPT-3's response to the prompt, ‘write a prediction for media in 2023’.
‘In 2023, the media landscape will be drastically different than it is today,’ responded GPT-3, blissfully unaware what year this is. ‘With the rise of digital media, traditional media outlets will continue to struggle to keep up. As a result, there will be a large number of mergers and acquisitions, and many newspapers and magazines will go out of business. Social media will continue to grow in popularity, and more people will get their news from websites and blogs than from traditional sources.’
And what about 2030? ‘In 2030, the media landscape will be drastically different than it is today. With the rise of virtual reality and augmented reality, most people will get their news and entertainment from interactive experiences that immerse them in other worlds. Newspapers and magazines will be all but extinct, and most people will get their news from websites, social media, and apps.’
But that’s nothing. In 2050, according to GPT-3, ‘the media landscape will be drastically different than it is today’. Italics mine.
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Sacha Molitorisz - Senior Lecturer, UTS Law