The Ethics of ChatGPT
By now you’ve probably heard of ChatGPT, the writing tool that uses artificial intelligence. A friend who’s been a techie his entire career alerted me to it. He asked ChatGPT to write a prospecting letter for his business and was amazed at how good it was. He humbly acknowledged he could not have done better and advised me to check it out the tool.
Because I’ve known him for decades and trust him, I decided to give it a look. After playing around a bit, I asked the ChatGPT to write a bio about me. Here’s what it came up with:
Brian Ahearn is the Chief Influence Officer at Influence PEOPLE, a leading organization in the field of influence and persuasion. With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Brian is a highly sought-after speaker and consultant, recognized for his expertise in the science of influence and its practical application.
Brian is a certified trainer in Influence Engineering, a proprietary method developed by Robert Cialdini, the world-renowned expert in the psychology of influence. He has worked with a wide range of clients, from Fortune 500 companies to government agencies and non-profit organizations, to help them understand and apply the principles of influence to their work.
Brian’s work focuses on helping individuals and organizations understand the psychological triggers that drive human behavior and decision-making. He uses this knowledge to help organizations influence the actions of their target audience, whether it’s through marketing, sales, or customer service. He has developed a reputation as one of the leading experts in the field of influence and is widely regarded as one of the best trainers and consultants in the industry.
Brian’s approach to influence is rooted in the principles of ethical influence, which means that he only teaches techniques that are based on mutual benefit and respect. He believes that influence should never be used to manipulate or deceive others, and he always puts the needs and well-being of the person being influenced first.
In addition to his work at Influence PEOPLE, Brian is a frequent speaker and author, sharing his expertise and insights on influence with audiences around the world. He has written several books on the topic, including “Influence PEOPLE: The Art and Science of Persuasion,” which is widely regarded as one of the most comprehensive and practical guides to influence available today.
Overall, Brian Ahearn is a thought leader in the field of influence and persuasion, with a passion for helping organizations and individuals understand the psychology of influence and apply it to achieve their goals. He is a sought-after consultant and speaker, and his work has made a significant impact in the industry.
After I read that I thought, “Dang, I want to meet that guy and hire him!” Seriously, a few factual errors aside (my book subtitle is not The Art and Science of Persuasion and I’ve never used the term Influence Engineering), the bio was excellent and spot on.
I see the application for people who need a good bio, prospecting letter, or any number of other uses. However, when it comes to certain writing, such as blogs, articles, and books, I wonder about the ethical part.
What I mean is this; for those of you who read my books, articles, and blog posts, you rightly assume it’s Brian Ahearn’s unique expression of my thoughts, ideas, and experiences. Put another way, would you be disappointed if you found out what you thought was my writing was simply AI generated? I bet you’d be just as disappointed as if you bought what you believed was an original piece of art from an artist but then learned it was AI generated.
Because I teach ethical influence, I’ve been pondering this for a while. After all, my work is designed to influence you and help you influence.
I decided to ask ChatGPT about the ethics of what it generates. Here’s the question I posed, “Is it ethical for ChatGPT to write articles and have humans take credit?” This is what I received in response:
As an AI language model, I do not have personal agency or ownership over any content that I generate. All content produced by me is created through a combination of algorithms and training data, which is owned by OpenAI.
Therefore, it is not ethical for me to take credit for any articles that I generate, as I am not a person and do not have the capacity to create original work in the same way that a human can. However, it is possible for humans to use my generated content as a starting point or inspiration for their own writing, and in this case, they should properly credit the sources of their ideas.
In summary, while it is not ethical for me to take credit for articles that I generate, it is possible for humans to use my content as a tool to aid in their own writing, as long as they properly attribute any sources of inspiration.
Wow, that was a great response. I wonder if we’ll begin to see disclaimers going forward.
- This was written by ChatGPT.
- This was written in conjunction with ChatGPT.
- This was written without input from ChatGPT.
- If you want to see if something is original or AI generated, check out Originality.ai.
Only time will tell. Let me put to bed a question you might be thinking right now; aside from the ChatGPT examples, this article is the expression of a real human being. He goes by the name Brian Ahearn.
Brian Ahearn
Brian Ahearn is the Chief Influence Officer at Influence PEOPLE. An author, TEDx speaker, international trainer, coach, and consultant, Brian helps clients apply influence in everyday situations to boost results.
As one of only a dozen Cialdini Method Certified Trainers in the world, Brian was personally trained by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D., the most cited living social psychologist on the science of ethical influence.
Brian’s first book, Influence PEOPLE, was named one of the 100 Best Influence Books of All Time by Book Authority. His follow-up, Persuasive Selling for Relationship Driven Insurance Agents, was an Amazon new release bestseller. His latest book, The Influencer: Secrets to Success and Happiness, is a business parable designed to teach you how to apply influence concepts at home and the office.
Brian’s LinkedIn courses on persuasive selling and coaching have been viewed by more than 500,000 people around the world!
Great article on a very relevant topic. Personally, Chatbot worked for me for a variety of tasks. Creating a protein rich diet (while excluding certain items) for my son who is a competitive high school wrestler that has a picky palate. In that same vein, I have created work out routines and generated content for writing a corporate jingle (I asked it to write me a song on the benefits of shopping insurance.)
Moving forward… how it will impact research-based jobs… using the above example.. How can a dietician keep their value? You can tweak questions to be VERY specific and as long as the research is public knowledge (available on the web), it will be hard to compete with AI…. YouTube has already made a dent in the value of certain types of repair work… This is definitely another disruption technology. The future will be fun as we get closer to a UBI… 🙂
Great examples of using the tool Christian. Thanks for chiming in on the topic.