Chatting about ChatGPT: how may AI and GPT impact academia and libraries?

Purpose This paper aims to provide an overview of key definitions related to ChatGPT, a public tool developed by OpenAI, and its underlying technology, Generative Pretrained Transformer (GPT). Design/methodology/approach This paper includes an interview with ChatGPT on its potential impact on academia and libraries. The interview discusses the benefits of ChatGPT such as improving search and discovery, reference and information services; cataloging and metadata generation; and content creation, as well as the ethical considerations that need to be taken into account, such as privacy and bias. Findings ChatGPT has considerable power to advance academia and librarianship in both anxiety-provoking and exciting…