Should we fear chatbots? ⏲️ 6 Minute English
Summary
TLDRIn this episode of BBC's 6 Minute English, hosts Neil and Rob delve into the world of chatbots, exploring their evolution from basic text responders to sophisticated AI capable of mimicking human-like conversation. They discuss the potential dangers of relying on chatbots, such as the tendency to trust grammatically correct and coherent text as authoritative, despite it being generated by algorithms. The show highlights the importance of being cautious with the information provided by chatbots, as they learn from data and predict responses rather than thinking independently. The hosts also touch on the psychological aspect of human interaction with chatbots, noting how we are predisposed to attribute sentience to language, even when it's machine-generated.
Takeaways
- 🤖 Chatbots are computer programs designed to simulate conversation with humans through text or voice.
- 📚 The first chatbot-like program, Eliza, was developed in 1966 at MIT.
- 📈 Modern chatbots use advanced technology to predict and respond to user inputs, making them seem more human-like.
- 🏦 Chatbots are now commonly used in customer service for tasks like banking or booking tickets.
- 📝 Chatbots can generate coherent text, which might be mistaken for human-written content.
- ⚠️ There is a risk of over-reliance on chatbots for information, as their responses are based on learned patterns, not independent thought.
- 🧠 Chatbots utilize deep learning, a process that mimics the way the human brain learns from experience.
- 🧐 People tend to anthropomorphize chatbots, attributing human qualities to them, which can affect how we perceive their responses.
- 🤔 The coherence and grammatical correctness of chatbot responses can make them seem authoritative, even though they lack true understanding.
- 🔍 It's important to be cautious and critical when evaluating the information provided by chatbots.
Q & A
What is a chatbot?
-A chatbot is a computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users, responding to text or voice input.
When was the first chatbot invented?
-The first chatbot that allowed plausible conversation between humans and machines was invented in 1966.
What was the name of the first chatbot?
-The first chatbot was named 'Eliza'.
How do modern chatbots predict the next word in a sentence?
-Modern chatbots use technology that can predict the next word likely to be used in a sentence by learning words and sentence structures.
What is the most well-known chatbot currently?
-One of the most well-known chatbots currently is ChatGTP, which claims to be able to answer anything you ask it.
Why is it dangerous to always trust what a chatbot is telling us?
-It is dangerous to always trust chatbots because they generate responses based on patterns and learned data, not necessarily on verified facts or reliable information.
What does the term 'coherent' mean in the context of chatbot responses?
-In the context of chatbot responses, 'coherent' means that the text is clear, carefully considered, and sensible.
What does 'on guard' mean in relation to interacting with chatbots?
-Being 'on guard' in relation to chatbots means being careful and alert about the accuracy of the information they provide.
How do chatbots learn from experience?
-Chatbots learn from experience through a process called deep learning, which allows them to process and understand information in a way that mimics the human brain.
Why might we start to believe chatbots are human?
-We might start to believe chatbots are human because they can produce responses that sound like they come from a sentient entity, leading us to imagine a mind behind the language.
What does the term 'sentient' mean?
-The term 'sentient' describes a living thing that experiences feelings.
What is the importance of being cautious when interacting with chatbots?
-The importance of being cautious when interacting with chatbots is to ensure that we do not mistake their programmed responses for genuine understanding or human-like intelligence.
Outlines
🤖 Chatbots and Human Interaction
This paragraph introduces the topic of chatbots, which are computer programs designed to simulate conversation with users through text or voice. It discusses the evolution of chatbots from basic to sophisticated technology capable of predicting responses and learning sentence structures. The paragraph also raises concerns about the reliability of chatbots, citing Professor Emily M Bender's caution against trusting grammatically fluent text from chatbots as authoritative. It highlights the potential of chatbots to mimic human-like responses and the psychological tendency to anthropomorphize them, leading to a false sense of trust. The paragraph concludes with a discussion about the naming of chatbots and a teaser for the correct answer to a question about the first chatbot program.
📚 The History and Vocabulary of Chatbots
This paragraph corrects the previous guess about the first chatbot, clarifying that 'Eliza' was the first program to allow plausible conversation between humans and machines, developed by Joseph Weizenbaum at MIT in 1966. It then recaps key vocabulary from the discussion, including terms like 'sophisticated' for advanced technology, 'coherent' for clear and sensible text, 'authoritative' for respected and accurate information, 'on guard' for being cautious, 'provoking' for eliciting reactions, and 'sentient' for living entities that experience feelings. The paragraph concludes the script with a reminder of the chatbots' machine nature despite their human-like interactions.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡chatbot
💡sophisticated
💡coherent
💡authoritative
💡on guard
💡deep learning
💡sentient
💡Eliza
💡ChatGTP
💡provoked
💡virtual assistant
Highlights
Chatbots are computer programs that respond to text or voice inputs.
Chatbots are becoming more sophisticated and advanced.
The first computer program for plausible conversation was invented in 1966.
Old chatbots from the 1960s and 70s were quite basic.
Modern chatbots can predict the next word likely to be used in a sentence.
Chatbots are now used in various services like banking and ticket booking.
ChatGTP is a well-known chatbot that claims to answer anything asked.
Chatbots can write students' essays.
We tend to react to grammatically fluent text as authoritative and reliable.
Chatbots are just predicting words based on what they have learned.
Chatbots learn from experience through deep learning.
Geoffrey Hinton fears chatbots could soon overtake human brain capacity.
Chatbots can be useful for practical information.
People sometimes interact with chatbots in a human-like way.
We are primed to imagine a mind behind language.
Chatbots might sound human, but they are just machines.
Chatbots are not your friends, despite sometimes being given names.
The first chatbot was called Eliza, not Parry.
Eliza was developed by Joseph Weizenbaum at MIT.
Sophisticated technology is advanced and complex.
Coherent means clear, carefully considered, and sensible.
Authoritative implies respected, accurate, and important sounding.
Being on guard means being careful and alert about something.
To provoke means to cause a reaction.
Sentient describes something that experiences feelings.
Transcripts
Hello. This is 6 Minute English
from BBC Learning English.
I'm Neil.
And I'm Rob.
Now, I'm sure most of us have interacted with a chatbot.
These are bits of computer technology that respond to text with text
or respond to your voice.
You ask it a question and usually it comes up
with an answer.
Yes, it's almost like talking to another human.
But of course, it's not.
It's just a clever piece of technology.
It's becoming more sophisticated, more advanced and complex,
but could they replace real human interaction altogether?
We'll discuss that more in a moment and find out if chatbots
really think for themselves. But first,
I have a question for you, Rob. The first computer program that allowed
some kind of plausible conversation between humans and machines
was invented in 1966.
But what was it called?
Was it a) Alexa.
b) Eliza, or c) Parry? Well, it's not Alexa,
that's too new, so I'll guess
c) Parry.
I'll reveal the answer at the end of the programme.
Now, the old chatbots of the 1960s and 70s were quite basic.
But more recently, the technology is able to predict the next word that is
likely to be used in a sentence and it learns words and sentence structures.
It's clever stuff.
I've experienced using them when talking to my bank
or when I have problems trying to book a ticket on a website.
I no longer phone a human,
I speak to a virtual assistant instead.
Probably the most well known chatbot at the moment
is ChatGTP.
It is. The claim is that it's able to answer
anything you ask it.
This includes writing
students' essays.
Now, this is something that was discussed on the BBC
Radio 4 programme, Word of Mouth.
Emily M Bender,
Professor of Computational Linguistics at the University
of Washington, explained why it's dangerous to always trust
what a chatbot is telling us.
We tend to react to grammatical, fluent, coherent seeming text
as authoritative and reliable and valuable and
we need to be on guard against that because what is coming out of ChatGTP
is none of that.
So, Professor Bender says that well written text, that is coherent -
that means it's clear, carefully considered and sensible -
makes us think what we are reading is reliable and authoritative.
So it's respected, accurate and important sounding.
Yes, chatbots might appear to write in this way. But really,
they are just predicting one word after another based on what they have learnt.
We should therefore be on guard - be careful
and alert about the accuracy of what we are being told.
One concern is that chatbots - a form of artificial intelligence - work
a bit like a human brain in the way it can learn and process information.
They are able to learn from experience. Something called deep learning.
A cognitive psychologist and computer scientist called Geoffrey Hinton,
recently said he feared that chatbots could soon overtake the level
of information that a human brain holds. That is a bit scary isn't it?
But for now, chatbots can be useful for practical information,
but sometimes we start to believe they are human
and we interact with them in a human like way.
This can make us believe them even more.
Professor Emma Bender,
speaking on the BBC's Word of Mouth
programme, explains why we might feel like that.
I think what's going on there is, the kinds of answers
you get depend on the questions
you put in, because it's doing likely next word, likely next word.
And so, if as the human interacting with this machine
and you start asking questions about how do you feel, you know, chatbot?
And, what do you think of this?
What are your goals?
You can provoke it to say things that sound like what a sentient
entity would say. We are really primed to imagine a mind behind language
whenever we encounter language.
And so we really have to account for that when
we're making decisions about these.
So, although a chatbot might sound human,
we really just ask it
things to get a reaction. We provoke it.
And it answers only with words
it has learned to use before.
Not because it has come up with a clever answer,
but it does sound like a sentient entity. Sentient describes a living
thing that experiences feelings. As Professor Bender says we imagine
that when something speaks there is a mind behind it. But sorry Neil,
they are not your friend.
They're just machines.
Yes, it's strange then
that we sometimes give chatbots names. Alexa, Siri, and earlier
I asked you what the name was for their first ever chatbot?
And I guessed it was Parry. Was I right?
You guessed wrong, I'm afraid.
Parry was an early form of chatbot from 1972.
But the correct answer was Eliza.
It was considered to be the first chatterbot, as it was called then,
and was developed by Joseph Weizenbaum at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Fascinating stuff.
OK, now let's recap some of the vocabulary
we highlighted in this programme, starting with sophisticated,
which can describe technology that is advanced and complex.
Something that is coherent, is clear carefully considered and sensible.
Authoritative means respected accurate and important sounding.
When you are on guard
you must be careful and alert about something.
It could be the accuracy of what you see or hear or just being aware
of the dangers around you. To provoke means to do something
that causes a reaction from someone.
Sentient describes something that experiences feelings.
So it's something that is living. Once again
our six minutes are up. Goodbye.
Bye bye for now.
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