[Paper Review] ChatGPT is a Remarkable Tool -- For Experts

Amos Azaria, Rina Azoulay+1 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Jun 2, 2023

Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education11 citations

TL;DR

This paper evaluates ChatGPT as an automated assistant across domains like scientific writing, mathematics, education, programming, and healthcare, outlining benefits, risks, and expert-driven usage strategies.

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the capabilities of ChatGPT as an automated assistant in diverse domains, including scientific writing, mathematics, education, programming, and healthcare. We explore the potential of ChatGPT to enhance productivity, streamline problem-solving processes, and improve writing style. Furthermore, we highlight the potential risks associated with excessive reliance on ChatGPT in these fields. These limitations encompass factors like incorrect and fictitious responses, inaccuracies in code, limited logical reasoning abilities, overconfidence, and critical ethical concerns of copyrights and privacy violation. We outline areas and objectives where ChatGPT proves beneficial, applications where it should be used judiciously, and scenarios where its reliability may be limited. In light of observed limitations, and given that the tool's fundamental errors may pose a special challenge for non-experts, ChatGPT should be used with a strategic methodology. By drawing from comprehensive experimental studies, we offer methods and flow charts for effectively using ChatGPT. Our recommendations emphasize iterative interaction with ChatGPT and independent verification of its outputs. Considering the importance of utilizing ChatGPT judiciously and with expertise, we recommend its usage for experts who are well-versed in the respective domains.

Motivation & Objective

• Assess the capabilities of ChatGPT as an automated assistant across diverse professional domains.
• Identify benefits and practical uses in research, education, programming, mathematics, and healthcare.
• Highlight limitations, risks, and ethical concerns of expert use of ChatGPT.
• Propose strategies, heuristics, and flowcharts for effective, cautious usage by domain experts.

Proposed method

• Survey and synthesis of existing literature and experimental observations on ChatGPT capabilities and limitations.
• Analysis of domain-specific use cases in research, education, programming, mathematics, and healthcare.
• Development of practical interaction strategies, including iterative prompting and output verification.
• Presentation of flowcharts and heuristics to guide expert users in leveraging ChatGPT responsibly.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What are the capabilities and limitations of ChatGPT as an expert assistant across multiple professional domains?
• RQ2 In which contexts should ChatGPT be used cautiously or avoided by domain experts?
• RQ3 What practical methods and workflows maximize benefits while mitigating risks when using ChatGPT?
• RQ4 What ethical considerations are paramount for expert use of ChatGPT in academia, programming, and healthcare?

Key findings

• ChatGPT can aid in literature reviews, data analysis guidance, drafting, and language editing, but may produce plausible yet incorrect information.
• Its usefulness varies by domain, offering advantages in coding, translation, summarization, and content generation, while exposing risks in accuracy and overreliance.
• Experts should employ iterative interaction and independent verification to mitigate errors and ensure reliability.
• There are significant ethical concerns around privacy, copyright, plagiarism, and biases that require transparent handling.