10 Minute Text

Data & Society's Jenna Burrell thinks we're worrying about the wrong things about chatbots

Feb 27, 2023, 12:38pm EST

Jenna Burrell wants us to stop attributing human-like qualities to chatbots and think of them as tools — with strength, weakness and limitations.

The director of research at Data & Society and former UC Berkeley professor also wants us to think about whose labor and work went into making the chatbots work, and how they may be enabling even more consolidation of wealth and power.

We talked about all that, and what chatbots could be useful for.

Gina Chua said:

Jenna, hi! Thanks for doing this.
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Want to send me a selfie to start so we can see where you are?

Jenna Burrell said:

In my kitchen

Gina Chua said:

Thanks!

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So I’ve been reading a ton, as I’m sure you have, about chatbots. And I know you think the media is missing some key points. What are we getting wrong?

Jenna Burrell said:

I think the conversation has gotten too caught up in the fear of automation, of people being replaced.

The tools seem human-like but they are far from human

Gina Chua said:

What should we be focused on instead?

And I hear you - we keep talking about them like they’re real people

Jenna Burrell said:

Powerful and useful combinations - these new tools ideally enhance humans, let us do more of what we’re good at.

Gina Chua said:

And since all politics is local… what could chatbots be used for to help journalism?

Jenna Burrell said:

Yes, the death of journalism has been pronounced again and again. I think chatbots are great for getting words on the page.

Gina Chua said:

But there are genuine fears about “hallucinations” and inaccuracies…

Jenna Burrell said:

Yes, about inaccuracies, absolutely. You really can’t trust a chatbot!

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Journalism about chatbots seems to be booming 😆

Gina Chua said:

It’s true! There’s a new lease on life for journalists who write about chatbots!

If only we were paid by the word…

Switching gears a bit: If the fear of being replaced is overblown, what are the things we really should fear?

Jenna Burrell said:

Well I do worry about the economics of it. If the models are trained on the writing produced by journalists and other writers, shouldn’t we get paid?

Who is getting extremely rich? There’s a consolidation of power that is a bit terrifying.

Gina Chua said:

And what do we do about that?

Jenna Burrell said:

I think copyright law needs to be amended or adapted to changing times. There are already a couple of cases making their way through the courts.

Jenna Burrell said:

We see lots of new economic models — from iTunes to YouTube where content creators make money from their contributions.

Gina Chua said:

You’ve given me a lot to think about. Thanks for doing this!

Jenna Burrell said:

Absolutely! Nice to be chatting with a human about chatbots.

Gina Chua said:

How do you know I’m human? Thanks again!

Jenna Burrell said:

Oooh, now you’ve given me something to think about!