I am scared

I asked my friend, a sophomore at one of the most prestigious universities in the US, about ChatGPT, a recent AI chatbot that is all over the news. He hadn’t heard of it before, so I showed him. <br><br>I showed him that ChatGPT could write better than him. I told him he didn’t have to do any of his 10 page essays that are oh so tedious anymore. I told him that at any point in time, he has access to a better writer than him, a writer that can write about anything he wants it to at any time. I showed him that he didn’t have to read any books anymore, ChatGPT can summarize any book that he wants it to in a better way than Sparknotes. I told him that he didn’t have to do any practice problems for any of his math classes, that ChatGPT can do every problem that is assigned in under a minute. I told him that he could just copy and paste what it has to say into his homework assignments, and he’s done. <br><br>I then looked into his eyes, and I saw something there that scared me. It was something that I had never seen before, something that I can’t quite describe. It was a mix of sadness, happiness, and fulfillment all at once. <br><br>I then realized that this was his life's purpose, to go to school, to get good grades, to get a good job, to get promoted, to make more money, to have more power, etc. But now all of this is going away, at least to me it seems that way. <br><br>I am scared, because I see that almost all the jobs out there right now will be obsolete. I am scared, because I don’t know what to do. I am scared, because I am so confused.