We may be witnessing an inflection point with artificial intelligence (AI), notably OpenAI’s GPT large language model replacing jobs through automation.
Last week the news and entertainment company BuzzFeed Inc (NASDAQ: BZFD) said it would use the GPT-3 engine to create quizzes and other content targeted towards teenagers and young adults, which sent its stock price soaring over 300%.
The company is struggling to remain relevant, and laid off 12% of its staff in the wake of a US$27 million loss in the third quarter.
But BuzzFeed was not the first major company to come up with the idea of replacing its staff through automation. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) fired over 50 of its editors and journalists that curated content for its Microsoft News and MSN news portals. Instead, algorithms similar to GPT will select which news stories will appear on the front pages.
The question for investors watching this unfold is, are large language models like OpenAI’s GPT-3 and Google’s Sparrow going to usher in a new paradigm of robots replacing more jobs, or is the hype and impact of the tools overblown?
The answer could be both.
Parallels from blockchain
If history repeats itself, we may see many more rallies in the stock prices of companies that announce they will use GPT-3 for some of their creative output.
This feeling of euphoria is comparable to that surrounded bitcoin in May 2020.
Back then, the coin reached an all-time high of US$20,000 for the first time and flooded its way into mainstream consciousness.
Blockchain was seen as the new paradigm back then, too.
People saw it as the end of the global banking hegemony, and decentralisation became the decade’s final buzzword.
Companies like on-line plc, which later changed its name to on-line plc blockchain, saw a rally of 394% in its stock price by this act…
