Will ChatGPT change how we work? This Sudbury, Ont., software developer thinks so

ChatGPT has already changed the way software developer Ed Wisniewski does his job.

The artificial intelligence (AI) model developed by OpenAI has made waves with its ability to understand the English language, solve complex problems and write in a clear way.

Wisniewski is the director of software development at NORCAT, in Sudbury, Ont. The organization is focused on skills training, and also provides innovation support for technology startups in northern Ontario.

Wisniewski's first experimented with ChatGPT when he asked it to write a story about a frog that would come out of a toy box, which he told his children when they were little.

"When it kicked me back my story and I gave it to my kids," he said. "They were all fascinated with how actually close it was to the way we used to describe our stories."

After that experiment, Wisniewski thought the software could help him with more practical tasks at work. NORCAT was hiring a new software developer at that time, so he asked the AI model to write him a list of 10 interview questions.

"And it created 10 questions that, you know, after I read them, I was like, 'Wow, I'm surprised I've never asked these kinds of questions,;" he said.

For Wisniewski, the next task he gave ChatGPT was even more impressive.

NORCAT had to update its corporate policy around firewalls. Wisniewski said he spent hours searching Google for examples he could emulate and tweak for his organization.

On a whim, he thought about asking ChatGPT to write him a new policy.

It's response was good, but it wasn't perfect, he said.

So he followed up, and clarified NORCAT's mission and values so it could write something more unique and appropriate for the organization.

"Within about two minutes I had a policy that was unique to me, unique to our company, that was so well written," he said.

In addition to English, ChatGPT can also write code.

Wisniewski said he needed a 3D graphic that would simulate a spark between two wires, which he could use in a virtual reality program.

Normally, he would have written the code himself, but he asked ChatGPT if it could write some code compatible with the Unity development platform for his graphic of the two wires and the spark.

"It kicks me back some code and it was OK," he said. "I could copy it, I had to tweak it, I had to play with it to make it actually work."

For fun, he asked the same query the next day, and the day after that.

By the third day, Wisniewski said ChatGPT wrote him code that was 95 per cent there. He only had to make minor tweaks to get what he wanted.

Will ChatGPT replace our jobs?

ChatGPT and other AI have raised concerns that they could threaten jobs in creative fields. New York City public schools have already banned the software on their hardware, out of concerns students could use it to cheat on essays.

But Wisniewski said he doesn't see it that way.

"What I see happening is more of our jobs are changing into learning how to communicate with the AI," he said.

"The bottom line with the AI is the output it gives you is only as good as the input you give it. So if I ask you a simple question, I'm only going to get a simple answer. The more sophisticated I make that input, the smarter the output is going to be."