The Chatbots Are Here, and the Internet Industry Is in a Tizzy

The volatility of chatbots has made it impossible to predict their impact. The result is an industry gripped with the question: What do we do now? When Aaron Levie, the chief executive of Box, tried a new A.I. chatbot called ChatGPT in early December, it didn't take him long to declare, "We need people on this!" He cleared his calendar and asked employees to figure out how the technology, which instantly provides comprehensive answers to complex questions, could benefit Box, a cloud computing company that sells services that help businesses manage their online data. Mr. Levie's reaction to ChatGPT was typical of the anxiety -- and excitement -- over Silicon Valley's new new thing.