ChatGPT artificial intelligence: An upcoming cybersecurity threat?

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize many aspects of our lives, including how we approach cybersecurity. However, it also presents new risks and challenges that need to be carefully managed.

One way that AI can be used in cybersecurity is through the development of intelligent systems that can detect and respond to cyber threats.

This was the AI chatbot’s reply when I asked it to write about AI and cyber threats. I am sure by now you know I am talking about the most popular lad in town, ChatGPT.

In November 2022, OpenAI, an AI research and development company, introduced ChatGPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) based on a variation of its InstructGPT model, which is trained on a massive pool of data to answer queries. It interacts in a conversational way once given a detailed prompt, admits mistakes, and even rejects inappropriate requests. Though only available for beta testing right now, it has become extremely popular among the public. OpenAI plans to launch an advanced version, ChatGPT-4, in 2023.

ChatGPT is different from other AI models in the way it can write software in different languages, debug the code, explain a complex topic in multiple ways, prepare for an interview, or draft an essay. Similar to what one can do through Web searches to learn these topics, ChatGPT makes such tasks easier, even providing the final output.

The wave of AI tools and apps has been growing for some time. Before ChatGPT, we saw the Lensa AI app and Dall-E 2 making noise for digitally creating images from text. Though these apps have shown exceptional results that could be nice to use, the digital art community was not very happy that their work, which was used to train these models, is now being used against them as it raised major privacy and ethical concerns. Artists have found their work was used to train the model and now has been used by app users to create images without their consent.

Pros and Cons

As with any new technology, ChatGPT has its own benefits and challenges and will have a significant impact on the cybersecurity market.

AI is a promising technology to help develop advanced cybersecurity products. Many believe broader use of AI and machine learning are critical to identifying potential threats more quickly. ChatGPT could play a crucial role in detecting and responding to cyberattacks and improving communication within the organization during such times. It could also be used for bug bounty programs. But where there is the technology, they are cyber-risks, which must not be overlooked.

Good or Bad Code

ChatGPT will not write a malware code if asked to write one; it does have guardrails, such as security protocols to identify inappropriate requests.

But in the past few days, developers have tried various ways to bypass the protocols and succeeded to get the desired output. If a prompt is detailed enough to explain to the bot steps of writing the malware instead of a direct prompt, it will answer the prompt, effectively constructing malware on demand.

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