I wanted to mark this date and time, 5/17/24 10:40 a.m. as the first time I used the ChatGPT App on my iPhone to have a verbal conversation with ChatGPT 4o. I believe this technology will change everything. I just wanted to make a note of it like a journal entry.
This moment is similar to the moment in 1985 when I started my IBM PC/XT for the first time at Spear Oil Company. Dad was computerizing the company’s accounting and one of the consultants showed me how to boot it up. I remember the computer beeped while starting up and I jumped because I was so excited. I was 14 years old and had only heard about the wonders of a personal computer. Seeing it live and in action for the first time was thrilling. This moment coincided with the opening of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. I went to the opening play, “A Midsummer Nights Dream” that night, but couldn’t stay focused because all I thought about during the play was getting back to that PC to play around with it and see what it could do.
It thrills me to follow OpenAI’s development to see and experience how this new technology will be used for good. AI will automate the mundane so that we may focus on more meaningful work leading to more meaningful lives. This is but the beginning of something very good.