When Paul Graham Said Microsoft Challenging Google With ChatGPT Was More Surprising Than '100-Year Pandemic'

Renowned venture capitalist Paul Graham in January said if OpenAI's chatGPT saves people from writing, it can also keep them from "having the ideas that writing engenders."  

What Happened: Sharing observations on Twitter, Graham had said chatGPT screenshots suddenly started crowding his social media feed a month ago. "They've become a media type, like jpgs and videos."

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He had tweeted that AI could essentially keep people generating ideas that manual writing kindles. "Even bad writing must force the writer to think. In a confused way, probably, but more than he'd have thought if he didn't try to write."

If AI saves people from having to write, it will also save them from having the ideas that writing engenders.

— Paul Graham (@paulg) January 5, 2023

Why It's Important: Graham had also taken a dig at Microsoft Corporation's MSFT decision to leverage chatGPT in launching a version of its search engine Bing and take on Google GOOGL, GOOG.

Graham had thought this latest development was more surprising than a "100-year pandemic or a European war."

I thought we were done with big surprises for a while, but Bing offering serious competition to Google would be even more surprising than a 100-year pandemic or a European war.

— Paul Graham (@paulg) January 5, 2023

The new Bing version was launched in March.

ChatGPT was made available for free testing in November last year. Microsoft backed the company with $1 billion in funding. 

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This story was originally published on Jan. 5, 2023.