Tom Scott compared ChatGPT to 2023's Napster — and now he is scared

Tom Scott, popular educational YouTuber who offers videos across a range of topics including history, geography, science, technology, and linguistics, recently posted a new video on his channel, where he shares his experience using AI in form of ChatGPT. The video, which at the moment of writing gained over 1.7 million views, is titled "I Tried Using AI. It Scared Me", and acts as a good reminder that we have no idea how AI will change the world, only that it will happen.

In the video, Tom shares his struggle with sorting emails into folders for archival purposes. He found out how with a bit of coding he can automate the process, but he didn't want to spend hours reading through documentation and refreshing coding skills. So he asked ChatGPT to write the code for him. The result was not perfect, but with additional prompts he got what he asked for, and it was a clear indication that AI can be used to solve everyday problems.

Tom reflects on the story of Napster in late 90's and how it was an early sign that the internet was about to change the world. He believes that the AI industry will bring a similar change and we are currently somewhere on the curve, not knowing how the future will end up looking.

Great video to show those who have heard about AIs but not exactly sure of the implications.

And don't skip the ad part, it's hilarious!