We all learned so much yesterday from our guest speaker Mr. Steve Shirkey, Director of Customer Success for Data/AI, Microsoft APAC and from our panellist Professor Lim Sun Sun, Vice President, Partnerships & Engagement and Professor of Communication and Technology, Singapore Management University about ChatGPT and its implications. Key messages included:

• There is no conscious being in ChatGPT. It does not think. It incorporates diverse knowledge into persuasive prose at the user’s command.
• Don’t try to limit tech development. It is futile and counter-productive.
• Generative AI can help us become more productive and save us time but it will change job scopes and can be a force for good and for ill just like every other human invention.
• Buyer beware! Don’t rely on ChatGPT for facts. Always check other sources
• Are we living in the imagination or the template age? Humans like being spoonfed but that is not good for their cognitive and societal development.
• Students hone their eloquence, thought processing and reasoning skills from undergoing the rigour of education and by acquiring knowledge from multiple sources. They should not be over reliant on tech like ChatGPT
• ChatGPT is just the beginning and we humans will dictate whether we can peacefully co-exist or whether “Skynet” becomes sentient and we become irrelevant.

Many thanks, once again, to our speakers for sharing their insights and perspectives and to our very engaged audience for contributing to a fun discussion. Let us know what other topics you would like us to cover.