Page 200 - Cyber Defense eMagazine April 2023

ChatGPT: The Next Wave of Innovation or

Your Biggest Security Threat?

By Craig Burland, CISO of Inversion6

ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence language model developed by OpenAI, is in the midst of the hype cycle
where every success or failure is shouted from the rooftops. Its millions of users generate millions of
queries per day with probably an equal number of posts, comments, and articles. Since its public go live
in November 2022, it has garnered significant attention and dramatically exceeded expectations,
surpassing the AI models before it. The platform uses deep learning algorithms and vast amounts of text
data to generate human-like responses to natural language inputs. It has a wide range of capabilities,
including text generation, language translation, and answering complex questions wrapped in human-
like speech. Potential applications include customer service, content creation, data analysis, and
education. Unfortunately, it has also been used to write malware, craft phish, cheat on term papers, and
plan fictitious crimes.

Across the recent history of innovation, there’s a tendency to react with excitement, uncertainty, and even
fear. The steam engine sparked fears of job loss alongside ideas of revolutionizing transportation. The
first airplanes generated wonder and amazement at human accomplishment and fears of military

200