Since its inception, it’s pretty difficult to find a platform or app that has attracted as much interest heading into 2023 as ChatGPT. It reached 100 million active users in January - setting a record as the fastest-growing consumer application in history. This is according to a recent UBS study.

One of the reasons why ChatGPT has gained a surge of popularity in a short space of time is because of its detailed human-like responses and articulate answers across many domains of knowledge. Whilst it has become an option and preference for millions, its developers, OpenAI, say that the app is capable of providing “plausible-sounding but incorrect or nonsensical answers”. Before users take ChatGPT’s answers first-hand and depend on well-written essays from it, there have been warnings to proceed with caution when using the chatbot. 

What are the pros and cons of using ChatGPT? Let’s take a look. 

What are the benefits of ChatGPT? 

Efficient customer support – Just like chatbots in general, one of the main benefits of adopting ChatGPT is the fact that it offers clients and customers quick and efficient support, resolving queries in the process. This as a result helps direct customers to appropriate services or personnel, whilst reducing the workload for employees. 

Memory – ChatGPT is able to remember previous conversations and use that context to generate appropriate responses. 

Writing assistance – An obvious case for ChatGPT is it helps write long-form content such as blog posts and articles. 

Code – It doesn’t just help those who love content, but it also assists coders too! By giving a simple command to ChatGPT to explain a certain language, the chatbot can demonstrate examples and definitions to match. 

User-friendly – First-time users do not have to worry about difficulty in using the app as the feedback largely from users is that it is very user-friendly. 

What are the disadvantages of ChatGPT? 

Misleading with answers – ChatGPT is said to provide answers on what “the model knows, rather than what the human demonstrator knows”. So this indicates that it could very well present answers which are inaccurate and users should not be too reliant on them. 

Will it kill creativity? – Due to ChatGPT’s ability to solve problems, one of the key questions users have about the platform is whether it will reduce the need for users to be able to come up with creative solutions to their own queries. It’s a benefit but could also be a disadvantage. 

Could it end productivity? – Will chatbots end human jobs? That’s been the main question surrounding the introduction of AI and chatbots, and the answer still remains unclear. 

Potential security breaches – If chatbots are not properly secured, there is a greater chance of sensitive information being mishandled. 

Longevity – considering ChatGPT is a free tool at the moment, there is concern over how lasting the technology will be or what changes could be brought to it. 

Despite both advantages and disadvantages of using ChatGPT, there’s no doubt of the intrigue and popularity the platform has gained. Although it is an extremely helpful tool and time-effective, questions remain about how accurate its responses are and the long-term effect.