Three years ago, on Nov. 30, 2022, OpenAI changed the future of business, technology, and the world with the release of ChatGPT.Since then, it’s become a powerful AI tool with 800 million weekly active users. Today, one-third of American adults report they’ve used ChatGPT and nearly twice that many under 30 say they have, according to Pew Research Center.
How has this historic technology changed our world, and how will it affect our future?
I talked with SmarterX and Marketing AI Institute founder and CEO Paul Roetzer on Episode 183 of The Artificial Intelligence Show, about this transformative technology.
Not Ready for Disruption
Two days after ChatGPT launched, Roetzer published a post on the Marketing AI Institute blog about his initial use of the tool.
“My immediate reaction after five minutes is that the marketing profession, business world, and society are not even close to ready for what is about to happen as a result of rapid advancements in AI,” Roetzer wrote.
He still echoes this sentiment.
“These words ring true today,” says Roetzer.
For many, accessing ChatGPT was the moment they realized artificial intelligence wasn’t sci-fi, but a tangible force that would dramatically impact their careers. Roetzer says the technology that powered ChatGPT wasn’t new, although most didn’t realize it.
It was just the first time such a powerful tool was accessible to the masses.
When OpenAI released ChatGPT, company CEO Sam Altman described it as an “early demo” and a “research release.”
The underlying models, versions of GPT-3, had actually been available to developers and researchers for nearly two years. You could experiment with them in OpenAI’s playground or via API long before the public chat interface existed.
“Part of this is explaining to people that sometimes the future is hiding in plain sight,” says Roetzer. “You could actually experiment with this stuff in OpenAI's AI studio. What they released was just a user interface. The tech was already there.”
Google, too, had similar tech, he said.
Eyes Wide Open
This distinction is critical for leaders trying to navigate the current AI landscape.
When ChatGPT launched, it felt sudden to the general public. But for those analyzing research papers and AI lab developments, it was simply the next step.
Roetzer and his Artificial Intelligence Show co-host Mike Kaput described this exact scenario in their 2021 book, Marketing Artificial Intelligence, a full year before ChatGPT arrived.
The warning: OpenAI and others were racing to train systems to generate human language at scale, and the implications would be huge.
Pay Close Attention
Today, three years and several ChatGPT iterations later, AI agents, reasoning models, and Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) seem distant. But just like the clues to LLMs were there, the signals are here for further AI advancement.
“You have to pay close attention to what these labs are doing and saying," Roetzer says. "It often provides a preview of where we're going six months, 12 months, two years out.”
He notes early studies from MIT and McKinsey regarding human-machine collaboration as early indicators of what is now becoming reality in the workforce.
So beware: The next “ChatGPT moment” is probably already brewing.
“That's the opportunity and the advantage you have by being one of these early adopters who's paying attention to this stuff and trying to figure it out,” says Roetzer.
Are You Ready for It?
As we look toward the next three years, the most valuable skill for leaders won’t just be using the tools of today, but reading the signals of tomorrow. Anticipating and getting ready for the sea change ahead.
“You have to see around the corner,” says Roetzer. “AI bubble or no AI bubble, you have to have conviction about what happens.”
Mike Kaput
As Chief Content Officer, Mike Kaput uses content marketing, marketing strategy, and marketing technology to grow and scale traffic, leads, and revenue for Marketing AI Institute. Mike is the co-author of Marketing Artificial Intelligence: AI, Marketing and the Future of Business (Matt Holt Books, 2022). See Mike's full bio.