OpenAi has Released GPT-4 and it Will Blow Your Mind!
Forget everything you think you already know about generative AI because the latest release, GPT-4 from OpenAi, is a total game changer.
Here’s what you need to know:
GPT-4 can pass standardised tests such as the Bar Exam, LSATs and SATs at the 90th percentile
GPT-4 has ‘steerability’
GPT-4 now incorporates images as part of the search function
There is a subscription cost to access the improvements via ChatGPT Plus
AI passes external exams
It’s a shocking claim but by all accounts, true. Exams such as these are not merely multiple-choice exams. All require some level of short and long text response which requires the participant to understand the context and interpret the intention of the question.
Upon the release of ChatGPT, many in the education sector suggested that we will begin to see more exam-style assessments as schools and other educational institutions attempt to mitigate the effects of generative text AI on essay or assignment-based assessments. That ChatGPT can achieve adequately high results in such exams may prompt a rethink. The process by which ChatGPT might be used during such exams remains to be seen but the fact that the potential is there should give education policymakers reason to pause.
GPT-4’s ‘steerability’
It’s not all bad news for educators. In fact, GPT-4 could be a useful educational tool if used appropriately. GPT-4’s inclusion of Persistent Prompts, commonly known as ‘steerability’ enables API users to customise the experience for their users. The Sentient Syllabus Group notes an example of a prompt (or system message, as OpenAi calls it) that customised the style of response from GPT-4. In the example, the bot is asked to apply the Socratic method to questions from the users i.e. to take on the role of a Socratic Tutor:
This is the prompt. Following this instruction, the intention is that the bot’s responses will be in line with this pedagogy.
Educators can surely see the benefit of having such a tool at their disposal. Once set up, the persistent prompts can’t easily be overridden and the feedback to the user is instantaneous. With the current trend towards personalised education, the use for such a tool could be far-reaching. Think about students in regional centres having access neither to face-to-face teachers nor to suitable tutors. Think about the application for assessment preparation in classes with large student numbers; the teacher in the room becomes the facilitator of learning rather than the only one with all the knowledge. Decentralising knowledge in the classroom is not a new idea but the practical application of this pedagogy can be difficult in mainstream classes with only one teacher.
GPT-4 can see!
As part of the search function, users can add images to the context window and ask questions as in this example below from Youtuber The Chap GPT:
In order to answer the question, GPT-4 had to interpret the image, evaluate the question and its context and formulate an answer. This functionality by far exceeds its predecessor.
But that’s not all it can do with images…In the OpenAi Developer GPT-4 Release Livestream on 15 March 2023, Greg Brockman, President and Co-Founder of OpenAI demonstrated the new features of their most recent release. In the demonstration of image searches, Brockman pasted a scribbled outline for a joke website. Through discord, GPT-4 turned the handwritten idea into an actual website within minutes.
Understanding how it interprets images and creates language makes this educator wonder if such functions have application in interpreting and analysing images of student work to diagnose learning gaps and suggest possible solutions.
New features come at a cost
Access to the GPT-4 model is not free. Users who subscribe to ChatGPT+ have access to the GPT-4 features, those that have been released and those that are being updated over the coming weeks. However, at USD20/month, the subscription is not going to break the bank. But is it worth it for you?
Initially, it seems that whether users have a need for the upgraded functions of GPT-4 or not is barely a consideration in whether or not they pay for a subscription. With the hype around the enormous advancements in AI, users are curious and are happy to pay the fee in order to try it out.
If you’d rather not pay a fee but would like to see some of GPT-4’s tech in action, you can sign up for Microsoft Bing’s new search engine; it is running a customised version of GPT-4, though initial reviews about the bot have been ‘mixed’ (meaning incorrect to belligerent and everything in between).
What’s our take on it?
At DLL we are excited about the advancements in generative AI and concerned about the implications for education, the Australian Workforce and the community. It is now more important than ever that our citizens are digitally literate.
Can you be part of the solution?
Corporate philanthropy in the form of sponsoring schools and industry groups to upskill their learners and staff is a socially responsible way to help. For more information or to talk to us about your own digital literacy, call DLL on 1800 CALL DLL or email us at hello@digitalliteracylicence.com
I finish this article on a sobering note. As a writer and an educator, the release of GPT-4 has me worried. It can write copy faster than I can create the sub-headings for an article. It can assist students in personalised learning. It can even write my lesson plans for me. It makes me wonder; will I have a job in the future? And I’m sure I’m not alone.
I reassure myself with the fact that AI is just that – artificial. There can be no substitute for human interaction, attention and original thought. AI is to be used concurrently with our own thinking not instead of. This is a message that is especially important for the next generation who will be working alongside AI. And the only way for our kids to get this message is if we teach them.