Something unusual happened when a reporter in New York called the toll-free number 1-800 last week. The reason for the call was not to reach a particular product helpline, but because she wanted to know about something completely new.
Sitting at his desk, perhaps somewhat anxiously, he typed the number into his phone – 1-800-242-8478. After the initial rejection, the phone rang. A woman immediately answered the phone. The conversation started with a cheerful ‘Hi!’ And what happened next left her spellbound.
It seemed that the woman who answered the phone was capable of talking about anything – from quoting a recipe for chocolate-chip cookies to informative details about the American Civil War.
1-800-242-8478 was actually 1-800-CHATGPT.
Will this be a game changer?
Ten days ago, OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPIT, launched a voice service in the United States, especially for those who do not have the app or are not tech-savvy. The tech firm believes this could help them get the answers they need on a routine phone call – talking to someone who seems like a pleasant and helpful ‘human being’, except that he or she is a AI is a chatbot.
There are some limitations though – although the number itself is toll-free, the service is only free for 15 minutes per month, and is currently only available in the US. OpenAI said it has launched a text service directly on WhatsApp for the rest of the world. The number is the same – 1-800-CHATGPT.
Kevin Weil, chief product officer at OpenAI, said that these new features were a project the team had worked on in just the past few weeks. The company believes that these two new features are very important to expand the reach of AI and make it accessible even to those who do not have access to high-speed internet.
Interestingly though, OpenAI is not the first company to introduce voice features on phone calls. Google had done something similar 17 years ago. Google’s GOOG-411 or ‘Voice Local Search’ feature was launched in 2007. It provided speech-recognition-based business directory search. However, it was mysteriously discontinued in 2010 and Google never explained the reason.
concerns
Although having solutions just a call away makes life easier, many people have raised legitimate concerns.
‘Will my calls be recorded?’, ‘Will my voice and speech be used as a sample to train AI?’, ‘Can my voice be replicated in case of a data leak?’ , ‘Can such technology manipulate human emotions?’ , ‘Can people connect emotionally with AI?’, ‘Will this cause people to seek out collaboration with AI?’, ‘Will people become too dependent on human-sounding chatbots?’, ‘Will this cause those But what effect will it have on those who are alone? – Many such provocative questions were asked by users online.
According to a CNN report, when questioned whether users agreed for OpenAI to record or store their voices when using the feature, OpenAI directed them to its ‘Privacy Policy’ and ‘Terms of Use’ Asked to see a copy of the manual.
“Before users can begin talking to ChatGPT on the phone, they must agree to OpenAI’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy by clicking a button to ‘proceed’ with the call,” they were informed. All users are also read a disclaimer informing them that OpenAI “may review the data for security purposes”.
From non-profit to for-profit
On Friday, OpenAI officially announced plans to create an entirely new corporate structure — which would likely end its control by a nonprofit.
OpenAI was founded in 2015 as a non-profit organization. It later changed to a “capped” for-profit venture, which allowed the tech firm to make money at a limited level. Now it has been said that the ceiling limit will be removed.
In a blog post, OpenAI said it plans to restructure as a ‘for-profit PBC’ or Public Benefit Corporation. This will require “the company to balance shareholder interests, stakeholder interests and public benefit interest in its decision making.”
“This will enable us to raise the capital we need with traditional terms like others in the sector,” OpenAI said.
However, OpenAI’s restructuring efforts may face hurdles, with Elon Musk reportedly asking a US court to block OpenAI from converting into a profitable venture.
