Happy 2nd birthday, ChatGPT! Here are 5 ways you’ve already changed the world

ChatGPT was born two years ago amid a flurry of hyperbolic hype, skepticism, and outright fear. The AI chatbot didn’t immediately guide us to digital heaven, take over every job, or become sentient and send robots with Austrian accents after us, but ChatGPT has a made major impact on many people’s lives nonetheless.

For ChatGPT’s second birthday, I’ve collected some of the most notable (if not always most noble) ways OpenAI’s experiment with a digital sidekick has changed day-to-day living for many people. I should say that while I did ask ChatGPT for examples of how it’s changed the world, the AI either was self-deprecating about how it hasn’t done so or insisted that everyone’s lives are radically altered by its presence in ways that resemble the Matrix films more than reality. Still, even if you aren’t one who employs the AI chatbot for all of the following examples, I’d bet you know someone who has at least experimented with doing so. Here are five ways ChatGPT has become a part of people’s lives, large and small:

Homework Houdini

Teachers and school administrators quickly noted what ChatGPT could mean for students. Lazy students might ignore hallucinations or awful phrasing to turn in terrible papers, but those were easy to weed out and give an F. More clever students could enhance their work and research with ChatGPT and not always be caught. OpenAI quickly partnered with educational organizations to try and come up with useful ways to deploy the AI chatbot, with fun studying tools and helpful guides to complex subjects.

But, arguably, the bigger impact was changing how teachers do their lessons. Some have relied on extra strict rules for using ChatGPT, while others have replaced essays with oral reports or projects where students can’t rely on ChatGPT to do everything for them. Thanks to ChatGPT, homework is disappearing.

ChefGPT

Some have always known how to transform whatever’s in the freezer and cabinet into a culinary delight, but for others, ChatGPT has become a go-to resource for figuring out our meals.

ChatGPT has given everyone the option to describe…