Teachers are lining up for a ChatGPT detector created by this 22-year-old in Toronto
As awe-struck Internet users obsessed over the wondrous abilities of ChatGPT, a 22-year-old in Toronto was feverishly crafting a tool to detect its misuse.
“ChatGPT is an incredibly cool innovation,” Edward Tian told CTV News Toronto.
“But it’s like opening a Pandora's Box.”
He would know. The Etobicoke native is a computer science major at Princeton University and spent the last couple years studying GPT-3, artificial intelligence that produces human-like text, just like ChatGPT.
The interactive chatbot is powered by machine learning. ChatGPT essentially swallowed massive swaths of the Internet, learning language patterns in the process that it can recreate in response to a human prompt.
As ChatGPT landed in the hands of the public in late November, Tian played around with the technology alongside friends. They asked the program to write poems and raps.“Wow this is really good,” Tian remembers thinking. “This is better than something I could write myself.”
That high-level of skill was raising alarm bells for educators, who began fearing that their students would hand in essays generated by a machine and they would have no way of knowing or confirming suspicions. Immediately, Tian became aware of this too.
“Everyone deserves to know the truth and everyone deserves a tool at their fingertips that can determine whether something is human or machine generated,” he said.
Luckily, he had time on his hands during winter break and sat down at a coffee shop in Etobicoke to do something about it. The result: GPTZero, an app that can decipher whether something was written by a machine or human.
First, a user copy and pastes text into the app. An evaluation begins, measuring the perplexity, creativity and variability of the writing. Then, GPTZero delivers a score, which leads to a result: either the text was generated by ChatGPT or a human.
On Jan. 3, the app went public. More than 300,000 people tried it and over 7 million people viewed it on Twitter.
“It was totally crazy. I was expecting a few dozen people,” Tian said
In particular, teachers were noticing GPTZero worked in detecting if their students were writing their papers, or not. Now, Tian is building a tool specifically designed for educators. Already, 33,000 teachers have signed up on the product waitlist.
“No one wants to be deceived if something they are reading is misrepresented as human,” Tian said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
A healthy lifestyle can mitigate genetic risk for early death by 62%, study suggests
Even if your genetics put you at greater risk for early death, a healthy lifestyle could help you significantly combat it, according to a new study.
When you have a moment's notice to evacuate, what do you take?
Knowing what to have at home, or take with you for an evacuation, can be useful and even life-saving.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Ellen DeGeneres addresses the 'hurtful' end of her talk show in new stand-up set
Ellen DeGeneres is reflecting on how her talk show came to an end in her newest Netflix special, 'Ellen's Last Stand ... Up Tour.'
Avs forward Valeri Nichushkin suspended at least six months
Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin was suspended for at least six months without pay and placed in Stage 3 of the league's player assistance program.
Western University researchers unlock potential 'cure' for ALS
New research out of London, Ont.'s Western University is shedding light on a potential cure for ALS, in which the targeting of the interaction between two proteins can halt or fully reverse the disease's progression.
Police release 3D images of young child found in an Ontario river two years ago
Police have released a three-dimensional image of a young child whose remains were discovered in the Grand River in Dunnville, Ont. almost two years ago.
B.C. man fighting for refund after finding someone living at Whistler vacation rental
Edwin Mostered spent thousands of dollars booking a vacation home in Whistler, B.C., for a group skiing trip earlier this year – or so he thought.
Kamala Harris drops F-bomb during White House live-stream
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers.