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ChatGPT has captured the public imagination in a way the tech world hasn't seen since the debut of the iPhone in 2007.

Why it matters: Most of us are only now getting a glimpse of just how smart artificial intelligence has become. It's awe-inducing — and terrifying.

When ChatGPT launched to the public, it proved to be much more advanced than even many in the tech industry had expected.

What it is: ChatGPT is a free (for now) site that lets users pose questions and give directions to a bot that can answer with conversation, term papers, sonnets, recipes — almost anything. In almost any style you specify.

The big picture: The possibilities for ChatGPT seem endless. It recently passed all three parts of the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination, although just barely, as part of a research experiment.

You can tell the chatbot you're a gluten-free lover of Italian food and it'll spit out a meal plan and grocery list for you in seconds.

Everyone seems to see an array of uses for the technology in ways that are both exciting and scary. 

It might one day handle complex tasks better and more efficiently than humans have ever been able to. And it might lead us to dark places we can't even anticipate yet.

How it works: Most software is specifically coded to do certain tasks. If the programmer didn't think of it, the software doesn't do it. Generative AI programs like ChatGPT, though, can create unique content in response to user prompts. 

ChatGPT, developed by a company called OpenAI, uses text as both its input and output. Other systems — including another OpenAI product, called DALL·E — can generate images from a text prompt. Google and Meta are working on similar technologies.

Anyone can use ChatGPT for free via a simple web interface, although there's talk of OpenAI planning to launch a paid version, and it has licensed many of its technologies to Microsoft to sell to businesses.

Between the lines: Researchers have been working on generative AI for a long time. In fact, OpenAI itself is already more than 7 years old. 

But most of that was occurring outside of the public eye. Even some experts were taken aback by how advanced it turned out to be.

That's led some to assume OpenAI will manage to fix ChatGPT's many problems, such as the incorrect information it sometimes provides.

But that's not a sure bet. Marc Andreessen recently referred to such certainty as "hand-waving" away some very real challenges.

The bottom line: Artificial intelligence has long seemed like science fiction, or at least like something in the distant future. But ChatGPT is forcing us to confront the fact that AI may play a big role in our daily lives — and much sooner than we imagined.

Newsrooms reckon with AI following CNET saga

How ChatGPT became the next big thing

Most of us are only now getting a glimpse of just how awe-inducing, and terrifying, artificial intelligence has become.

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AI's Next Wave

Automation and AI

<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="ChatGPT " data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/12/05/chatgpt-scary-good-ai-chatbot" data-vars-content-id="1218ac10-670f-4e4d-ae8c-cf63ae3971fc" data-vars-headline="How ChatGPT became the next big thing" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/12/05/chatgpt-scary-good-ai-chatbot" target="_self">ChatGPT </a>has captured the public imagination in a way the tech world hasn&#x27;t seen since the debut of the iPhone in 2007.Why it matters: Most of us are only now getting a glimpse of just how smart artificial intelligence has become. It&#x27;s awe-inducing — and terrifying.

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

Data: Axios/Generation Lab poll; Chart: Axios Visuals

Despite the rise of social media and the ubiquity of the creator economy, most Gen Z-ers are interested in the same traditional careers as generations before them.

Driving the news: Young people today are more likely to job-hop, but they are also looking for stability by pursuing careers as CEOs, doctors and engineers, according to a new Axios/Generation Lab study. 

By the numbers: Gen Z-ers surveyed said their top career goals were businessperson, doctor and engineer.

Gen Z-ers also tend to prefer larger companies — with 58% saying they’d prefer a big or mid-sized corporation over a startup or a government job.

Just 14% aspire to work for the government.

Worth noting: Young people’s leading motivator as they advance in their careers is personal fulfillment (49%), followed by wealth (25%).

Contrary to polling that indicates Gen Z cares more about their employers’ stances on social issues more than previous generations, just 9% of respondents said societal impact is their top driver when it comes to work.

Gen Z is also driving the "quiet-quitting" trend, with 82% of them saying the idea of doing the minimum required to keep their jobs is pretty or extremely appealing.

The bottom line:  "The most popular careers among young people are those with high-income potential. ... They see that as the best way to achieve personal fulfillment and happiness," says Matin Mirramezani, Generation Lab's chief operating officer.

"They don't see their career path as an end in itself, but rather the means to an end."

Methodology: This poll was conducted Jan. 11-18 from a representative sample of 824 18 to 29-year-olds nationwide. The margin of error is +/- 3.4 percentage points.

What Gen Z wants to be when they grow up

Most Gen Z-ers are interested in the same careers as the generations before them.

Generation Z

Despite the rise of social media and <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="the ubiquity of the creator economy" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2021/10/11/creator-economy-revenue-content" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2021/10/11/creator-economy-revenue-content" target="_self">the ubiquity of the creator economy</a>, most Gen Z-ers are interested in the same traditional careers as generations before them.Driving the news: Young people today are more likely to<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text=" job-hop" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/02/25/gen-z-great-resignation-generation-job-hopping" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/02/25/gen-z-great-resignation-generation-job-hopping" target="_self"> job-hop</a>, but they are also looking for stability by pursuing careers as CEOs, doctors and engineers, according to a new Axios/Generation Lab <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="study" data-vars-click-url="https://pdfhost.io/v/QI4r4sqG4_Axios_Career_Survey_Generation_Lab" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://pdfhost.io/v/QI4r4sqG4_Axios_Career_Survey_Generation_Lab" target="_blank">study</a>.

The recent wave of layoffs in the tech industry and beyond is exposing a harsh reality of the remote and hybrid working world.

Virtual layoffs add a layer of loneliness and stress distinct from in-person job cuts.

Driving the news: Some 58,000 tech workers have already been laid off this month, per Crunchbase News. And around 140,000 were let go in 2022.

Thousands of those workers are getting laid off in their home offices or living rooms — immediately losing access to email, Slack and their community of colleagues, The New York Times' Emma Goldberg writes.

The experience is especially jarring for younger workers, many of whom joined their jobs remotely.

Madeline Whitney, a 2022 college graduate, was working from home when she was laid off from Yext, a midsize tech company, this week. She joined a morning call that popped up on her calendar, and after a five-minute conversation, her job was gone. Within 15 minutes, her email was cut off.

"The hardest thing was that we didn't get to say goodbye," she says.

Her colleague Anna Karl, another new graduate, was laid off the same day. "When you're dealing with the hybrid environment, you don't have people there for you to talk about it or ask for recommendations for new jobs," she says. "There are so many people I loved working with that I'll probably never see again."

The big picture: Another anxiety for laid-off remote workers is finding their next job.

41% of office workers are confident in their ability to find a new job in a month if they’re let go, compared with 24% of remote workers, per a recent CNBC/Momentive Workforce Survey.

And remote workers who are let go may not be able to keep that flexibility and continue working from home. Per LinkedIn data, demand for remote jobs is outpacing supply, with two applications for every remote position.

What to watch: As remote firings become a part of our new reality, managers will have to figure out how to handle these conversations.

“No fire announcements should be made by e-mail or messenger, and certainly not during group calls,” Pavel Podkorytov, founder of San Francisco-based HR platform TalentService, told Axios' Javier David.

The bottom line: Layoffs spotlight one of the toughest parts of remote work — how isolating it can be, David notes. Some conversations are just better in person.

Lonely layoffs in the work-from-anywhere world

Layoffs expose a harsh reality of the remote world.

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Remote work

Jobs

The recent wave of layoffs in the tech industry and beyond is exposing a harsh reality of the remote and hybrid working world.<ul><li>Virtual layoffs add a layer of loneliness and stress distinct from in-person job cuts.</li></ul>Driving the news: Some 58,000 tech workers have already been laid off this month, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="per Crunchbase News" data-vars-click-url="https://news.crunchbase.com/startups/tech-layoffs/" data-vars-content-id="228b0519-346a-4ca3-b450-843e631bb299" data-vars-headline="Lonely layoffs in the work-from-anywhere world" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://news.crunchbase.com/startups/tech-layoffs/" target="_blank">per Crunchbase News</a>. And around 140,000 were let go in 2022.

The government has new rules to determine what's really organic and what's a sham.

Why it matters: The term "organic" has been stretched over the years as these foods become increasingly popular — and pricey. Products labeled organic that don't meet government standards are hitting store shelves.

Case in point: The Justice Department recently charged several individuals in a multimillion-dollar scheme to sell ordinary soybeans from Eastern Europe as organic in the U.S.

Organic soybeans cost up to 50% more than their nonorganic counterparts.

Driving the news: The Department of Agriculture is cracking down on fakes with its biggest-ever overhaul of organic guidelines, released Thursday.

The changes include requiring those in the middle — such as traders and brokers — to be certified alongside the food producers themselves, per the Washington Post. There will also be more inspections and required certification for imports.

The big picture: U.S. organic food sales hit $57.5 billion in 2021 — more than double what they were about a decade ago, per Food Dive.

Reality check: "Though some consumers view 'organic' as a synonym for 'healthy,' the science on whether organic food is healthier is mixed," the Washington Post's Laura Reiley writes.

U.S. government cracks down on scammy organic labels

Illustration of an apple wearing a joke Groucho Mark glasses

Food

The government has new rules to determine what&#x27;s really organic and what&#x27;s a sham.Why it matters: The term &quot;organic&quot; has been stretched over the years as these foods become increasingly popular — and pricey. Products labeled organic that don&#x27;t meet government standards are hitting store shelves.

President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

Politics & Policy

The U.S. faces a range of health care flashpoints — unaffordable drugs, opioids, vaping — as we debate whether to adopt universal care. For now, the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land, but Republicans want to issue it a final death blow.

Health

Americans are staying healthier longer than ever before — and they're transforming what older age looks like.

The big picture: "We have essentially created a new stage of life. Americans retire, on average, by their early to mid-60s, yet many now remain vibrant into their mid-80s," David Brooks writes in The Atlantic.

The 70s — a largely overlooked decade of life — can be some of our best years.

🧮 By the numbers: A recent study from AARP and National Geographic found that happiness dwindles in middle age but then spikes again in one's 70s and 80s, as people find themselves with more free time and less stress.

34% of adults in their 80s and 27% of those in their 70s say they're very happy, compared with 18% in their 50s.

And 51% of adults in their 70s say they're optimistic about their futures, compared with 44% in their 60s.

🧠 Reality check: There are, of course, stressors associated with getting older. The study found that independence, brain health and the strength of relationships were older adults' top concerns.

As we've reported, there's a growing population of seniors who are aging alone — without any close family around them. This lack of kinship can often contribute to deteriorating mental and physical health.

The bottom line: Many of us fear the prospect of aging, but this stage of life can be enjoyed — and celebrated. 

Axios Finish Line: Happiness spikes in our 70s

Aging

Americans are staying healthier longer than ever before — and they&#x27;re transforming what older age looks like.<ul><li>The big picture: &quot;We have essentially created a new stage of life. Americans retire, on average, by their early to mid-60s, yet many now remain vibrant into their mid-80s,&quot; David Brooks <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="writes" data-vars-click-url="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/01/american-optimism-productivity-innovation-rise/672714/" data-vars-content-id="68404d4a-ff0c-4216-8f7a-ee1175cdd098" data-vars-headline="Axios Finish Line: Happiness spikes in our 70s" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/01/american-optimism-productivity-innovation-rise/672714/" target="_blank">writes</a> in The Atlantic.</li></ul>

Erica Pandey

Stories

Axios Finish Line: Happiness spikes in our 70s

Lonely layoffs in the work-from-anywhere world

How ChatGPT became the next big thing

What Gen Z wants to be when they grow up

U.S. government cracks down on scammy organic labels

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