[HN Gopher] OpenAI's ChatGPT plugins may revolutionise the tradi...
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       OpenAI's ChatGPT plugins may revolutionise the traditional customer
       journey
        
       Author : sxanus
       Score  : 31 points
       Date   : 2023-03-25 19:56 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (tevfik.xyz)
 (TXT) w3m dump (tevfik.xyz)
        
       | chazeon wrote:
       | My feeling is that this is in this near future, all they need to
       | do is to make a chat app.
        
         | midlightdenight wrote:
         | They're currently hiring iOS and Android developers so it's
         | likely on the horizon.
         | 
         | https://openai.com/careers/search
        
       | sxanus wrote:
       | OpenAI's ChatGPT plugins may revolutionise the traditional
       | customer journey. With access to the internet and all websites,
       | it's now possible to bypass browsers and middlemen. This end-to-
       | end system could mean the future of AI, where devices become
       | unnecessary and OpenAI owns the entire journey.
        
         | rtsil wrote:
         | > With access to the internet and all websites
         | 
         | This has me wondering... Does ChatGPT honor robots.txt?
        
           | LanceJones wrote:
           | Apparently it does.
        
         | echelon wrote:
         | Terrifying that one company would own the world.
        
           | Vespasian wrote:
           | That'll most likely not happen. Or they'll be declared a
           | public utility soon enough.
           | 
           | For now we are still living in a world governed by humans
        
             | visarga wrote:
             | Google didn't get defined as public utility.
        
             | sebzim4500 wrote:
             | Unless they make very bad decisions with which lobbyists to
             | hire, I think there is essentially no chance they end up
             | being declared a public utility.
        
             | sillysaurusx wrote:
             | The history of economics seems to imply that it's more
             | likely than not. As for the public utility part, even the
             | internet itself isn't, which is arguably more impactful
             | than AI.
        
               | feanaro wrote:
               | Which specific part of history of economics implies that
               | this is more likely than not?
        
               | sillysaurusx wrote:
               | Every transformative technology has been concentrated
               | into a few powerful companies that have a natural
               | monopoly. OpenAI has all the hallmarks.
        
               | Vespasian wrote:
               | Internet cable owners are in fact required to provide
               | access to third party resellers at a fixed price in many
               | European countries.
               | 
               | Net neutrality was upheld here by the courts and required
               | phone companies to cancel plans.
               | 
               | It may happen (no guarantee obviously).
               | 
               | Right now I'm less concerned about the AI apocalypse but
               | good old human greed.
        
               | sillysaurusx wrote:
               | Agreed. Though I had a strange moment on a podcast when I
               | realized mid sentence that human greed might be how the
               | AI starts to fool humans into doing its bidding.
               | https://youtu.be/vYhtYjXNBCU
        
       | smy20011 wrote:
       | We build web browser for a reason. Talk to a chatbot like talk to
       | customer service. It's far slower and sometimes frustration.
        
         | sxanus wrote:
         | What if our chatbots are talking to other chatbots?
        
         | j45 wrote:
         | But we text all the time with people we know for information we
         | trust, and it's easier to interact for information by text than
         | web browsing for the many and not the few
        
       | seydor wrote:
       | There is no need for plugins. GPT4 can already figure out a
       | series of instructions to perform whatever we want from a
       | browser. All it needs is a chrome extension to allow it to
       | control the browser. This gives more power to openAI without
       | relinquishing control to third parties.
       | 
       | I think openAI is using the plugins to increase adoption and
       | bring visibility to its chat through third parties. Much like how
       | facebook initially used its FB platform. When they have grown
       | their audience they 'll cut it down and use their own means.
        
       | freefaler wrote:
       | Ok, suppose we have milions of plugins. How will the discovery be
       | made and plugins (suppliers) ranked? If there is an ad-
       | marketplace we'll end up with another Google. If there isn't an
       | ad-supported marketplace on what criteria one supplier of a USB
       | cable been ranked higher than another one? (for products that are
       | chosen on utility, not branding with more than one "direct"
       | provider)?
        
       | jliptzin wrote:
       | Shopping moving from brick and mortar to online was truly
       | revolutionary. Compare a few taps on your phone to getting in
       | your car, getting gas, driving to store, locating item, waiting
       | in line, paying, getting back in your car, etc and the time
       | savings are astounding. And there are still brick and mortar
       | stores everywhere because a lot of people simply like to shop and
       | browse all the options.
       | 
       | I just don't see the need to trust ChatGPT to do my shopping for
       | me. Earlier today at a red light I searched for something I
       | needed on Amazon, found a good option and ordered it all before
       | the light turned green. Maybe for cheap things that don't matter
       | or commodities it would be fine to just tell ChatGPT or Alexa to
       | order something for you but it's really not that revolutionary
       | compared to what we already have. If OpenAI is going to get a cut
       | of every transaction, they'll just make the purchase that secures
       | the highest commission for them. This is akin to telling google
       | to buy the first ad in their search results for you. Do a lot of
       | people make a purchase with the I'm feeling lucky button sight
       | unseen?
       | 
       | Ok so maybe you don't like the first option the chatbot gives you
       | and it presents the next one...and the next one...then we're
       | basically back where we started at that point?
       | 
       | I prefer to spend an extra few seconds comparing the options so I
       | know what I'm getting and I'm not even someone who enjoys
       | shopping. I think ChatGPT will be game changing for a lot of
       | things but not for online shopping.
        
         | sxanus wrote:
         | I always imagined that we would have personal assistants
         | (personal ChatGPTs) that are trained with our treats and after
         | watching a few times which could learn by our standards. They
         | could even do negotiations for us as it knows our price
         | elasticity as well!
        
           | jliptzin wrote:
           | That would make sense if we didn't already have online
           | shopping that is so easy and seamless. I know what I like and
           | can already find it and order it inside of literally 15
           | seconds, 1 minute maximum. Is that minimal time savings worth
           | the creepy factor of a corporate chatbot learning every
           | little thing about you? Have we not been paying attention to
           | the last 10 years with respect to privacy concerns
           | surrounding ad tech?
           | 
           | There's things about shopping that are monotonous and
           | annoying and there are things that are pleasant and fun.
           | Online shopping already took away 99% of the monotonous,
           | annoying things like driving, waiting in line, etc. I don't
           | mind spending 10 minutes looking at pictures of 5 different
           | hotels for my vacation, well worth it to make sure thousands
           | of dollars are well spent. It does make sense to let a bot
           | handle routine things like toilet paper and dog food but we
           | already solved stuff like that with subscriptions.
        
             | sxanus wrote:
             | I definitely have concerns about security, but I think
             | Google already knows as well. What if OpenAI would promise
             | us to keep our data in our OpenAI device and actually run
             | most of the operations in the device while having limited
             | data sync with their server?
        
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       (page generated 2023-03-25 23:01 UTC)