Photo/Illutration The logo of OpenAI is displayed near a response by its AI chatbot ChatGPT on its website, in this illustration photo taken on Feb. 9. (Reuters file photo)

Amid widespread debate over ChatGPT and similar chatbots, Japan’s artificial intelligence experts expressed cautious optimism regarding the generative AI.

“With huge potential for a variety of uses--including generating texts, seeking advice and searching the web--these AI programs are tremendously useful in their ability to help create new ideas and streamline tasks,” said the Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence in a statement issued on April 25.

However, users should be aware of the programs’ strengths and weaknesses and not just believe everything they say, the statement added.

“A blanket ban (in the classroom) doesn’t help,” said the association, calling for further debate in the educational sector on how to make generative AI beneficial for students.

However, students should think critically and independently without relying completely on chatbots, the experts said.

The association, the leader of the country’s AI research community, also said AI technologies should be developed ambitiously as well as with proper controls.

It argued that scientists’ creativity and their original ideas should play a central role in their research projects regardless of whether AI is used or not, warning, again, that people should not wholly rely on it.

“ChatGPT and similar AI programs have impacted us experts, too,” said Satoshi Kurihara, a professor at Keio University, who heads the association’s ethics committee.

“They have their advantages and disadvantages,” said Kurihara, “but halting their development will be to our disadvantage. Our society should move forward, solving problems as we go, to make the best use of AI.”

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