ChatGPT

Author Name: Tiffany Lee – Marketing Analyst at FreightAmigo

Rise of ChatGPT

In the decade of high-speed technological advancement, all of us have developed a sense of attachment to our devices. The convenience, efficiency, and simplicity of using machinery, even AI technology, seem to be improving people’s lives and place of business while slowing replacing “man” in workplace, including the supply chain.

Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer, also known as ChatGPT, is an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI. Its training on a massive dataset of text-based data allows ChatGPT to be applicable in all manners possible.

As the pioneering digital supply chain finance platform in the Asia-Pacific, FreightAmigo is here to introduce this technology, its strengths and limitations, and its potential usage in the world of logistics and supply chain.

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First launched in November 2022 then quickly reached over 100 million users by January 2023, making ChatGPT the fastest growing consumer application to date. ChatGPT is built on top of OpenAI’s GPT-3 family of large language models to learn the structure and pattern of the human psyche to give a human-like answer.

According to IBM, “a chatbot is a computer program that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) to understand customer questions and automate responses to them, simulating human conversation.” By combing machine learning and deep learning techniques as well as huge amounts of data, ChatGBT is able to understand the context of a conversation and mimic speech patterns. Therefore, using data as input for decision-making is no longer part of the future, learning and adapting to these new AI technology is essential for business survival nowadays.

Impact and Potential in logistics and supply chain

First and foremost, the most obvious use of ChatGPT in the logistics and supply chain practices – customer service. According to Esteve Almirall, a Professor at Spain’s Esade Business School, ChatGPT could cover a clear supply chain need saying, “resolving customer doubts is an unresolved problem. Until now, the interaction of chatbots with customers hasn’t been very successful.”

With its ability to make human-like conversation, ChatGPT can be used to handle day-to-day enquiries such as quotation, tracking, giving information on government and company policies. This will speed up the entire booking process and minimize the potential loss of customers due to lack or delay in response.

In the supply chain aspect, ChatGPT could be used in management and organisation of stock. Work such as supplier selection by streamlining warehouse operations and automate inventory management through examination of real-time information. AI technology could take on the repetitive and time-consuming tasks, e.g., data entry and inventory tracking to improve efficiency, reduce man-made errors, and eventually lead to reduced operational and resourcing costs.

In the logistics aspect, ChatGPT could be of good use in risk assessment and management as it could choose shipping route based on latest news reports or historical weather reports to avoid areas of potential conflict or known rough weather patterns. AI technology could be integrated to process basic transactions, for example setting parameters like the best route to transport a load, the most adequate type of vehicle to use, or calculating precise delivery time. It could also assist in making carrier choice based on their certifications, claims, delays, accidents, average age of vessels/aircrafts, etc. Procuring from suppliers based on their fiscal strength, historical performance, infrastructure, etc. Moreover, in due diligence to ensure that transactions are not done with sanctioned individuals or corporations.

ChatGPT will, in the coming years, surely influence our decisions by helping us compare prices, specifications, pros & cons and affordability, of the things we purchase on a daily basis.

Limitation and Concerns on Artificial Intelligence

As good as it may sound, some users have found issues with ChatGPT after these few months of initial testing. An important limitation of ChatGPT is that the quality of the output depends on the quality of the input. In other words, expert directions (prompts) generate better answers. And since it is trained to provide answers that feel right to humans, the answers can trick humans that the output is correct when it is actually completely wrong.

Another concern surrounding AI chatbot is the possible spread of misinformation. ChatGPT does not have the ability to search the internet for information. It uses the information it learned from training data to generate a response, which leaves room for error. ChatGPT only has access to information up to 2021, whereas a regular search engine, such as Google, has access to the latest information. Therefore, if you ask ChatGPT events occurring after certain date, it would not be able to give a response as Google would.

In the world of supply chain and logistics, there is still a long way to go before we know if and how ChatGPT could truly be applied. Without a connection to the internet, information given by ChatGPT could be false or out-of-date, leading to greater mistakes.

Vaggelis Giannikas, Director of the University of Bath’s Centre for Smart Warehousing and Logistics Systems, explains “we need to understand more about the way the technology works before we jump straight into using it for industrial purposes. Whether the information is a) true, b) guessed with some likelihood of being true, or c) completely rubbish — this needs to be understood more.”

Tech Available Now – FreightAmigo

As there is much to do and to study on before knowing how ChatGPT could truly be applied industrially. If you are currently looking for cost-, time-, and manpower-saving logistics solutions, FreightAmigo is your best choice.

We are a one-stop shipping, customs clearance, cargo insurance and trade finance for e-commerce companies, online shop, importers and exporters and retail companies. Our quotation system combines big data analysis and artificial intelligence to provide real-time, transparent, and accurate freight quotations. Not only helps save an average of 30% in shipping cost, but also in search for carriers as we are able to provide all comparisons with just one-click.

Our latest technology, AmiGo Green, could contribute additional value to your company as we could provide a carbon offset logistics solution for you to better reach your ESG targets.