For already quite a long time we had AI and machine learning tools. These systems were working really well. They were able to classify the data, to rank the results and even to predict some outcomes. All was working, but at the same time there was a feeling that behind there is a type of a mechanism or an algorithm. So it was feeling like a system, not for sure like a human being. Something has changed with the appearance of GenAI models and GenAI tools such as ChatGPT and others.
In this short note, we'll try to understand what has changed and why these tools are so different. The key word here is generation. GenAI models and GenAI tools can not only generate text. They also generate images, audio and video. What is important here is not actually the technical details. It is that generation which is provided by these types of models almost feels like creation, and creation is something which we typically associate with human beings and also with God. So as a result all these tools feel a bit magical, and the result, this kind of creation, generation, which is offered to us is inspiring for most of us, and some of us are even a bit afraid of how powerful these tools are becoming.
With all the AI or traditional software systems, we needed to adapt to the tools. We needed to follow a number of rules which were predefined by someone in this product. We clicked menus. We were selecting from a number of options and then of course the system was working and giving us some results. With GenAI the interaction is slightly different. We can just express the idea or describe what we want, and in the back end somehow magically these tools will understand what we want and give us the result which we're requiring.
We can be imprecise, we can be unclear, but still these tools understand perfectly the idea and the intent which we have when we're interacting with such tools. Another difference is that before, the tools were following predefined paths, someone designed them and we needed to stay within these paths. With these new GenAI solutions, we are basically having an open canvas. We can draw, we can express ourselves and we can invent completely new things which were not even planned by the creators of the software. So the feeling is real.
These tools are completely different, and the key reason why they're different is because generation feels like creation, and creation is something we associate with human beings, and as a result these tools feel really magical.
