Sunday March 19, 2023 1:11 p.m
ChatGPT said at a blockchain conference that people shouldn’t rely too much on AI or it will erode our critical thinking and judgment.
The generative AI chatbot developed by OpenAI was a panelist at the Gilmore Center of Financial Technology conference at Warwick Business School to discuss cryptocurrencies and the role of AI in society.
ChatGPT included Nick Merritt of metaverse platform Vault Hill, Cynthia Campbell of Canada’s Alberta Securities Commission, Amila Dissanayake of crypto analytics firm Chainalysis, Ganesh Viswanath Natraj of the Gilmore Center of Financial Technology, and Ray Patterson of the University of Calgary.
Asked if people trust technological advances too much, ChatGPT said at the conference on Digital Currencies, The Frontiers of AI and Fintech: “AI is only as good as the data and the algorithms it’s built on, the biased, may be incorrect or manipulated. Meanwhile, blockchain networks, while inherently secure, are not immune to vulnerabilities.
“Our reliance on these technologies can inadvertently undermine human judgment, critical thinking, and the ability to question or challenge the status quo.
“By placing too much reliance on AI and blockchain, we risk creating a society overly dependent on technology, vulnerable to manipulation, and detached from ethical considerations.”
The panel discussed how society today trusts technology more than its fellow human beings, although Professor Paterson argued that the state will always play a role.
ChatGPT, meanwhile, advocated that both humans and AI technology should work together.
“The challenge is to strike a balance between human judgment and technological efficiency, realizing that neither is infallible and that collaboration between the two can produce the most robust results,” it told the audience.
Mr. Merritt insisted that society should not rely on governments to protect cryptocurrencies, and ChatGPT agreed that this would be paradoxical as “cryptocurrencies were born to challenge centralized control.”
“However, as adoption of digital assets increases, some regulation is inevitable,” the chatbot added.
“Finding a balance between maintaining the decentralized spirit of cryptocurrencies and ensuring investor protection is the real provocation. Navigating this delicate balance is critical to the future of both crypto and traditional finance.”
At the conference, cryptocurrency market data company Kaiko’s Anastasia Melanchrinos spoke about DeFi and centralized finance, crypto derivatives from analytics platform founder Block Scholes Eammon Gashier, and the growing Metaverse industry from Mr. Merritt.
While Amit Chaudhary of DeFi app builder Polygon conducted detailed research on DeFi liquidations, and Tarleton Watkins of Circle, the USDC stablecoin maker, spoke about the regulatory environment for digital currencies given the company’s success in expanding its $3.3 billion in cash to be transferred from collapsing Silicon Valley Bank.
Ram Gopal, Academic Director of the Gilmore Center of Financial Technology, said: “The panel discussion with ChatGPT was a great success and added a new dimension to the conference.
“Generative AI is still in its infancy but has the potential to transform the way we work, research, learn and live in so many ways—we’re only scratching the surface of its capabilities.
“The conference showcased the innovation and ingenuity at the heart of fintech and digital currencies and how academic research centers like ours can play a crucial role in this exciting sector.
“The Gilmore Center will be at the heart of this new world, creating a place where researchers, policymakers, industry leaders and technology entrepreneurs can come together and explore new possibilities and ideas.”
