OpenAI launches AI-powered browser, in challenge to Google
Host: The tech company OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Atlas, a new artificial intelligence-powered web browser that promises to use the internet for you. The company said Atlas will look and feel like an existing browser, but is built around a chatbot. So how will it work? Earlier, I spoke to our technology correspondent, Lily Jamali.
Lily Jamali: Well, for one thing, Atlas does away with the way most of us use browsers and search bars. It does away with the traditional bar that you see, that address bar. So when you open up a new tab in this browser that they're releasing, it takes you straight to ChatGPT and you can start engaging with the chatbot there. You also would type web addresses that you're looking to visit in this chat, you know, this ongoing chat with the chatbot.
The agent feature, this thing called agent mode, actually does the searching for you on its own, basing what it does on context that it's gathered about, what you might want or need from various services.
And OpenAI has already been trying to insinuate itself into our everyday lives, into our shopping habits, I've noticed, especially these last few weeks, we saw an announcement about this at its developer day earlier this month. They are trying not just to make revenue, but to turn a profit, which they never have. So presumably, they're hoping Atlas will kill not just the browser, but the search engine as we know it.
Host: I was going to say, because a lot of people will be wedded to Google Chrome. That's the most popular browser. And ChatGPT are going to be wanting to compete with that.
Lily Jamali: Yeah. And I asked analyst Patrick Moorhead about this. He said he thinks that users are actually going to be pretty interested in playing with Atlas and trying it out. But he's not so sure that users will stick with it. And I think that's an important distinction.
Old habits die hard, as you just sort of alluded to there, for people who came up Googling everything or maybe they're using Microsoft Edge or Apple Safari now, they might still prefer those more traditional methods of searching the internet.
And he says there are some functionalities that ChatGPT is offering here that you can kind of get on some of those competitors already.
Host: And I guess it's a trust thing as well about AI and it can get things wrong, can't it?
Lily Jamali: It can get things wrong. And I have to say, just stepping back for a moment, one of the criticisms of OpenAI and some of these other AI developers is that they just throw these tools out at all of us and then say, "use them and tell us how it goes, what are you interested in." And that can be very innovative and fun and create new, maybe use cases that they hadn't thought of internally.
But on the other hand, we saw what happened with social media, right? And already chatbots have found themselves at the center of this conversation about mental health, about how children should and shouldn't use them.
And I'm not saying that will be a huge issue with this particular product, but more because there's just this known unknown out there. OpenAI is very comfortable throwing these things out to us and seeing what they do. Sometimes it goes well, others not so much.
词汇表
ChatGPT Atlas [æt ləs] OpenAI 推出的AI驱动网络浏览器
atlas ['ætləs] n. 地图集，地图册
web browser [web ˈbraʊzə(r)] n. 网络浏览器，网页浏览器
chatbot [ˈtʃætbɒt] n. 聊天机器人
do away with 摒弃，摆脱，抛弃
search bar [bɑː(r)] n. 搜索栏，搜索框
agent mode [ˈeɪdʒənt məʊd] n. 代理模式（文中指AI自主执行任务的功能）
insinuate oneself into [ɪnˈsɪnjueɪt] 渗透，潜入，打入（某个群体）
developer day [dɪˈveləpə(r)] n. （科技公司的）开发者日，开发者大会
revenue [ˈrevənjuː] n. 收入，收益
presumably [prɪˈzjuːməbli] adv. 大概，很可能，想必是
be wedded to [ˈwedɪd] 执着于，习惯于，忠于
Google Chrome [ˈɡuːɡl krəʊm] 谷歌浏览器
stick with 继续做，坚持
die hard （旧习惯等）难以改掉，顽固存在
allude (to) [əˈluːd (tu)] vi. 暗指，影射，间接提到
Microsoft Edge [ˈmaɪkrəsɒft edʒ] 微软Edge浏览器
Apple Safari [səˈfɑːri] 苹果Safari浏览器
functionality [ˌfʌŋkʃəˈnæləti] n. 功能性，功能，机能
step back 退一步（考虑问题）
use case n. （某个产品或服务的）用例，应用场景
internally [ɪnˈtɜːnəli] adv. 内部地，在内部
known unknown [nəʊn ˌʌnˈnəʊn] n. 已知的未知，已知的不确定性因素
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