ChatGPT: Write me a blog
The due diligence industry has seen a number of trends emerge in recent years, as companies and investors seek to thoroughly assess potential business partners, acquisitions, and investments. Here are a few of the most significant trends that have been noted in the industry:
Increased use of technology: Technology has been a game-changer in the due diligence industry, with tools such as data analytics and artificial intelligence being used to analyze and interpret vast amounts of data more efficiently. This allows companies to more quickly and accurately assess potential investments and acquisitions, and helps to identify potential risks and opportunities.
Artificial intelligence - particularly OpenAI’s ChatGPT software, which wrote the above excerpt and another four paragraphs about the due diligence industry - has been the subject of much discussion lately and for good reason. Advancements in AI over the past 20 years have led to technology that was once the province of science fiction now being available to the masses.
Writers across the world rejoice at the potential elimination of writer's block, students staring at blank documents and looming written report deadlines are suddenly free to watch one more YouTube video or play a few more minutes of Minecraft, and threat actors without programming or other language skills can now develop malware or phishing emails with ease.
AI-based chatbots are nothing new. In fact, the AOL Instant Messenger-based SmarterChild of the early 2000s, Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, nearly every customer service chat window that pops up asking, “How can I help you?” and even the auto-complete suggestions in Google Docs that I am using to write this blog utilize artificial intelligence to varying degrees. What differentiates ChatGPT from Siri and other AI bots is its ability to formulate complex and grammatically correct responses to questions, but with one limitation - it’s siloed into that specific task, at least for now. Siri and Alexa, for instance, can interact with apps and devices outside their environments - playing music over a Sonos speaker system via Spotify, providing the local weather forecast, sending text messages to friends and family, and a host of other tasks. While ChatGPT resides in its own bubble, isolated from devices, apps and the internet, it excels at generating written responses to questions - the task it was built to accomplish.
ChatGPT is an AI language model that has been learning from immense libraries of information and has educated itself to the point that it can even pass graduate level law and business written exams.
A potential boon to fraudsters
In the investigations world what are the implications and risks associated with ChatGPT and other AI implementations? First and foremost, the ability to pass oneself off as an expert or person of influence is now easier than ever.
The days of poorly written phishing or whaling emails may be a thing of the past - fraudsters relying on Google ‘lost-in-Translate-ion’ to craft emails that allegedly are coming from your company’s CFO asking you to wire $3 million for a last-minute business deal will likely begin to sound less like they were written by someone an ocean away with little grasp of the local language.
A ‘subject matter expert’ may now be able to draft a convincing email or sales pitch to recruit investor dollars for a product or business that doesn’t exist but is backstopped by AI-generated content and expertise.
Similarly, malicious hackers and other threat actors have utilized ChatGPT to write rudimentary malware code utilizing programming languages and have crafted conversations for use in dating scams to further conversations by automating through idle chatter such as responses to or interrogatives of, “How was your day?” “How’s the weather?” and other monotonous banter giving the impression of a more legitimate human interaction.
Could ChatGPT be a positive addition to the investigations industry? Time will tell, but there are some promising potential use cases. One area where ChatGPT excels is in summarizing complex information into simpler language. The 5-minute ‘subject matter expert’ use case could be beneficial, helping investigators quickly understand topics with which they may have only a passing familiarity. For example:
Explain how the blockchain and cryptocurrencies work
Blockchain is a decentralized, digital ledger that records transactions on multiple computers in a secure and transparent manner. It is a continuously growing list of records, called blocks, which are linked and secured using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data.
Cryptocurrencies are digital or virtual tokens that use cryptography to secure their transactions and to control the creation of new units. Bitcoin, the first and most well-known cryptocurrency, was created in 2009. Cryptocurrencies are based on the blockchain technology and exist only as digital entries on the blockchain network.
Transactions in cryptocurrencies are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded on the blockchain. The process of verifying transactions is called "mining". Miners are rewarded for verifying transactions with newly minted coins and transaction fees.
Cryptocurrencies operate independently of a central bank and offer a decentralized means of payment. They provide an alternative to traditional fiat currencies and allow for peer-to-peer transactions without the need for intermediaries. However, the value of cryptocurrencies is highly volatile and they are not yet widely accepted as a form of payment.
That’s not to say that 10 minutes with ChatGPT makes you a blockchain and cryptocurrency forensics expert, but it certainly can help you make informed decisions about when to bring in an outside partner or to help in identifying new leads to examine or rabbit holes to go down. Even understanding the lingo and ideas common in certain industries can be helpful while conducting an investigation.
However, when it comes to doing actual investigative research the utility of ChatGPT quickly disappears, at least for now. As mentioned above, ChatGPT is unable to perform functions beyond synthesizing information, meaning it can’t do things like query reverse telephone number tools, conduct court records portal searches or execute other tasks that an investigator may need to perform. However, certain research-related queries are potentially useful.
What does the company 221B Partners PLLC in Chicago, IL do?
221B Partners PLLC is a private detective agency located in Chicago, IL. The company specializes in providing a wide range of investigative services to individuals and organizations, including background investigations, asset searches, surveillance, criminal investigations, and due diligence. The company's team of experienced detectives and investigators has the skills, expertise, and resources to handle a wide range of complex investigations, including cases involving fraud, theft, missing persons, and more. The company is committed to providing clients with accurate, timely and confidential information that can be used to make informed decisions. 221B Partners PLLC is dedicated to helping clients navigate the complexities of the investigation process, and to providing the support and guidance they need to successfully resolve their case.
The above is, more or less, spot on. However, there is a certain uncanny valley to the summary akin to trying to write a school paper by copy and pasting Wikipedia entries with judicious use of a thesaurus. While the description is technically correct, it leaves out some nuance found on our company website and adds its own remarkably generic flair.
For the time being, at least in my mind, ChatGPT is something of a sophisticated novelty, sort of a Wikipedia-on-demand that can distill its findings into a few paragraphs. The rate at which technology has evolved is staggering, though. The future for ChatGPT likely involves much more advanced application of customer service-oriented needs, assisting healthcare providers in scheduling appointments or answering common questions. In the automotive industry, perhaps preliminary diagnostic troubleshooting for mechanics. The marketing world may soon run entirely on AI-based analysis of data, research and reporting.
Maybe, just maybe, investigators will soon be able to rely on AI - Write me a background investigation report on Chris Brenner of 221B Partners.
