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A new AI chatbot designed to help write emails, essays, and code is being used by some for criminal activities such as espionage, ransomware, and malicious spam, among others.
Since its release in November by San Francisco-based artificial research lab OpenAI, ChatGPT has generated widespread interest in how the chatbot tool can be used in the future.
A logo of ChatGPT as seen on a mobile phone. (CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images/Getty Images)
But within just a few weeks of ChatGPT going live, analysis of underground hacking forums showed that participants – many with little to no programming experience – were using the tool to create malware and engage in other nefarious activities.
“It’s too early to say whether or not ChatGPT capabilities will become the new tool of choice for participants on the dark web,” researchers at security firm Check Point Research wrote on Friday. “However, the cybercriminal community has already shown great interest and is jumping on this latest trend of malicious code generation.”
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Researchers noted that the code can be used in “benign” ways. But bad actors can easily modify the script “to completely encrypt someone’s computer without user interaction,” the company said.
FOX Business has reached out to OpenAI for comment.
The chat tool has already sparked some controversy in schools because of its ability to create a compelling term paper in seconds. Last week, school officials in New York City began blocking students’ writing tools.
The largest US school district’s decision to restrict the ChatGPT website on school devices and networks could have far-reaching implications for other schools and teachers scrambling to figure out how to prevent cheating. The makers of ChatGPT say they are also looking at ways to detect abuse.
ChatGPT is part of a new generation of AI systems that can converse, generate readable text on demand, and even produce novel images and videos based on what they learn from a vast database of digital books, online writings, and other media to have.
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But unlike previous iterations of so-called “big language models,” like OpenAI’s GPT-3 launched in 2020, the ChatGPT tool is available for free to anyone with an internet connection and is designed to be more user-friendly. It works like a written dialogue between the AI system and the person asking it questions.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.