The Foreign Service Journal, June 2023

54 JUNE 2023 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT What Exactly Is Generative AI? Generative AI uses deep machine learning through neural networks to both create and evaluate original content such as text, images, and audio. In a recent interview on the “PBS News Hour,” Seth Dobrin, president of the nonprofit Responsible Artificial Intelligence Insti- tute, said: “Think of it as auto-complete on steroids.” He explained that generative AI com- prises “large language or foundational models that are essentially trained on the whole of the internet.” Because the internet offers factual information, disinformation, bias, and opinion, generative AI content can con- tain all of those things. It’s important to note that generative AI, depending on its purpose, also mines datasets of thou- sands of books and millions of images, as well as scientific and medical data. Still, Dobrin pointed out, ChatGPT uses Reddit, a huge chat site with 50 million users, to learn how humans converse. And Reddit is nothing if not human. Also, GPT-4 was trained on data only through 2021, so it can produce outdated information. Although there are several generative AI programs available, ChatGPT (GPT stands for Generative Pre-Trained Trans- former) has captured the lion’s share of media attention. Other companies such as Google (whose AI tool is called Bard) and Microsoft (Bing) offer their own generative AI platforms. If you give these new apps a spin, bear in mind that there are data privacy con- cerns about ChatGPT and other AI tools. It’s Already Being Used to Write Essays … Some college applicants have already used AI to generate college admissions essays, even at the risk of consequences. Can college admissions officers deter- mine if an application essay is AI- generated? Without AI detection and other tools, that’s unlikely at this point. ChatGPT-generated essays have recently fooled expert readers. The essays generated by those of us first testing out ChatGPT’s “skills” were good, but not necessarily great. In the essay I created above, there were not enough of the specific small details that show us something about the writer. There was more “telling” than “show- ing,” and a certain monotonous rhythm to the writing.