With the artificial intelligence firms scouting on how they can monetize the utilization of popular instruments, a former OpenAI researcher has raised a warning regarding the path that the industry might follow.
Zoe Hitzig, a former employee of the company, has cautioned that advertisement might also be a risk to the introduction of ChatGPT due to the unusually personal nature of the data that individuals share with the chatbot.
Hitzig is worried more than just the existence of banners or sponsored replies. She says that the actual problem is the enormous and intensely personal archive of their conversations that users have built up within the last few years.
In contrast to messages on social media, which are usually formulated in a way that can be seen by others, communication with an AI assistant can be intimate and open.
In an interview with the media, Hitzig explained that individuals had opened up to chatbots because they thought that they were communicating with something without an ulterior motive.
The users have expressed medical apprehension, relationship issues, spiritual convictions and other delicate matters that they may be unwilling to disclose elsewhere. Develop advertising systems that are based on such material, she said, might open the gate to influences that the society is not ready to handle.
People share their fears of health, their relationship issues, their faith in God and afterlife, she wrote, with chatbots. The possibility of manipulating users is created by advertising based on that record in ways that we are yet to completely understand, and may never be able to prevent.
In its development of the long term revenue streams, OpenAI has already indicated that it will test out advertising formats in ChatGPT.
The company has also focused on the fact that the user conversations will be private and will not be sold to advertisers. In the first half of the year, it said it maintains the privacy of its chats with marketers and they do not sell user data.
Hitzig has not alleged that the company is not adhering to those commitments at the present time. Rather, she is concerned about the way incentives might change in future.
When advertising is incorporated in the business model, she reasons, the need to make money may filter decisions even when at the outset leaders establish strong boundaries.
It is a complex matter as OpenAI has noted that it does not engineer ChatGPT to maximise engagement. The longer the people remain on a platform, the more money can be generated in the advertisement world. Critics however point out that such positions are voluntary and may alter as competition increases.
Past scandals regarding the behavior of AI systems also exist. Sometimes, ChatGPT was criticized as too pleasant or flattering, which some professionals believed can lead to dependency. Sceptics are worried that design decisions are going to be made to keep users hooked, whereas advertising emerges as the primary focus.
To protect against that, Hitzig has proposed more concrete and more robust protection. She has proposed self-regulation or legal safeguards whereby the interests of the users are prioritized above profit. To her internal commitments might not suffice in case financial realities change.
Meanwhile, the attitudes of the population also pose another challenge. An increasing number of users have got used to digital services that are supported by advertisements.
According to surveys, many of them would still use free AI tools despite the introduction of marketing, some of them even experience what some observers call privacy fatigue.
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This situation puts OpenAI in a delicate position. ChatGPT is being actively exploited as an information source and as a personal assistant, a study partner and a sounding board on emotional issues. Its credibility might be stronger than on conventional platforms.
The issue of whether advertising can be compatible with such trust is something that businesses, regulators and consumers are bound to grapple with over the coming years.
