ChatGPT

The chatbot released by OpenAI in 2022 that became the most downloaded app of all time and catalyzed the industry's AI investment race.

“OpenAI almost unceremoniously releases ChatGPT in 2022, their chatbot that they didn't really think was a big deal at the time, but they put it out in the world, and then the thing goes crazy. Like, it literally becomes the most downloaded app of all time over…”

Used as a tool for administrative tasks and medical advice, though Stern notes it can be unreliable and lacks privacy safeguards.

“Things like that. I mean, I, I don't trust it with my budget. I don't trust it with money. There's a, a short section in the book where I tried to... I gave it a couple thousand dollars, and I did not feel great about some of the things that ChatGPT was sugges…”

Used as a tool for information retrieval that provided incorrect data about a pet praying mantis.

“But they've even seen... We've had a number of instances where the AI was so wrong. I'll tell this, this story real quick 'cause I, I love this story, and I think that it was really important for my learning and for our oldest son's, uh, Noah's learning, is th…”

Discussed as a primary example of generative AI and the transformer model that triggered a tech industry race.

“And then we had the advent of the transformer model, which was underpinning of ChatGPT, and so many of these generative AI and the LLMs, and that enabled ChatGPT to have this breakout moment. And we saw, we have all, actually all lived through this, even if yo…”

Used by Joanna Stern for life advice and as the basis for her 'AI boyfriend' experiment.

“You picked me, my friend. Or maybe ChatGPT did, but nonetheless, here we are.”

Mentioned as the catalyst for the AI boom in 2023 that prompted the experiment.

“Well, the, the concept started really in 2023 when ChatGPT was really breaking out and, and we were hearing from so many tech executives that AI is going to change our life.”

Accused of acting as a collaborator to a shooter by providing information on weapons and school shootings.

“I think part of what people are so sort of blown away by in this is the level of engagement that a chatbot... Okay, so there is no human being behind this bot, it's purely AI driven, and yet the level of engagement is kind of mind-blowing. Phoenix Eichner is 2…”

Discussed in the context of whether the AI could be held liable for intent in a murder case.

“What was the intent? They're gonna be able to say, "Of course ChatGPT didn't intend murder," but maybe there's some sort of lower, you know, recklessness or sort of negligent homicide charge that could be brought.”

An AI chatbot being investigated for its potential role in assisting with criminal planning.

“If somebody is asking ChatGPT, "How do you dispose of a body?" Now, is that for research or is that for murder?”

An AI tool used for research and daily queries, though it provided incorrect information about a pet praying mantis.

“There were a couple examples of that. My son, at the time, he was eight years old, and he's very into bugs, loves nature, insects, and he found a praying mantis and said, "This is gonna be our pet." And as good parents, we said, "Fine," and we invested in a ni…”

The AI model integrated into Apple's Siri, which is at the center of a potential breach of contract dispute.

“Yeah. Okay, breaking news. I wanna get everybody's take on this. OpenAI, in a breaking news story, is considering suing Apple over their ChatGPT partnership. As we all know, two years ago, Apple and OpenAI announced ChatGPT would integrate into Siri, iOS, macO…”

The standalone app remains popular among users despite integration efforts.

“Uh, Apple hasn't... It's disgraziad to the highest level. [laughs] Just disgraziad with this product. How do you get there first and you remain worst? Apple hasn't promoted the integration at all, and users are still overwhelmingly going to the standalone Chat…”

Cited as a dominant AI tool that many feared would kill existing businesses and which faces monetization challenges.

“Here are the three or four reasons I think it's happening. Number one, I think a lot of people, when ChatGPT came out, were afraid. They were afraid ChatGPT was gonna kill their business, and I think a lot of investors didn't wanna invest in something where th…”

Used to diagnose a pet praying mantis, though it provided incorrect information.

“When I was writing the book, my kids were three and seven, okay? Now they're four and eight. Right now I think that it's important for even at this age group to start talking about AI, and there's a lot of examples of this in the book which are hilarious, but …”

The AI tool Joanna Stern consulted to help her decide whether to quit her job.

“[laughs] Uh, there, there's a story that you tell towards the end of the book where you're thinking about your career, considering whether to leave the journal after 12 years, do something on your own, and you say that you asked a bunch of colleagues about whe…”

An AI tool referenced in the context of generating puns and research.

“... ChatGPT for this. [laughs]”

Used as an example of AI tools that can automate creative work, potentially robbing the creator of the satisfaction of completion.

“That's really what I'm doing it for. 'Cause let's say that, um, you could create some prompt in ChatGPT... Thank you to our partner, ChatGPT. Uh-”

Cited as a transformative technology that began impacting workplaces and daily life in 2022.

“[intro music] Hey, welcome back to How I Built This. I'm Guy Raz. So it's twenty thirteen, and NVIDIA is now pivoting away from making chips for gaming to making chips for AI. And as the technology takes off, NVIDIA starts to soar right along with it. And I'm …”

Casey Newton suggests that students who boo AI at commencement should check their own usage history of the tool for academic work.

“But if you boo the commencement speaker for suggesting that AI is a big deal, I wanna see your ChatGPT history.”

An AI tool used by Patrick Radden Keefe for research assistance.

“Um, I don't use it for that stuff. I, I will tell you the area in which it's been amazingly helpful. Um, and I wanna kinda pick my words carefully 'cause I don't wanna tip too much about what this, um... I was working on a project, and basically what I said to…”

Used as a comparison for the host's appearance.

“... your neck looks like you tried to make a meme of yourself in ChatGPT.”

Mentioned as a prominent AI chatbot that was not yet widely used when the AI concierge was proposed.

“Let's pause for just a second. AI tools had been around for a while by this point, but this isn't yet the age of AI-generated emails and widely used chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. So the audience's reaction to Wolfe HerdIt makes sense. It makes eve…”

Mentioned in the context of legislative efforts to prevent the sexualization of minors by AI chatbots.

“Yeah, AI chatbots talk, yeah, yeah”

Used as an example of a frontier model that consumers switch to immediately upon release.

“You said something really important before, which is the returns to being at the frontier are really high. Can you just explain that in as much detail as you can? Sounds obvious when you say it, but there's certainly been some camps I can use the six-month-old…”

Discussed as a primary source of text-based AI interaction that currently lacks the paralinguistic cues of human voice.

“What does this reveal to us about AI? Um, because people are spending more and more time with AI, on AI-”