Exploring the Early Adoption of Open AI among Laypeople and Technical Professionals: An Analysis of Twitter Conversations on #ChatGPT and #GPT3

Abstract

Large language models (LLMs) such as GPT-3 and their derivative products such as ChatGPT have garnered significant attention for their remarkable ability to process texts and conduct human-like conversations. Guided by the Diffusion of Innovation theory, this study examines the early discussions about LLMs on Twitter, specifically about ChatGPT and GPT-3, during the first three months following the release of ChatGPT. By utilizing topic structural modeling and sentiment analysis on a sample of 42,273 #ChatGPT tweets and 17,639 #GPT3 tweets, we explore how laypeople and technical professionals differ in their attitudes in the early stage of the adoption of LLMs. Our findings suggest that the discussion surrounding ChatGPT and GPT-3 primarily revolves around relative advantage and compatibility, with the majority of #ChatGPT conversations demonstrating negative sentiment and #GPT3 discussions containing more positive topics. The Twitter discussion using #ChatGPT is highly business-oriented, while the discussion of #GPT3 covers a broader range of topics in terms of the characteristics, applications, and potential ethical concerns of LLMs. This study offers implications for government agencies and policymakers, suggesting that further research is needed to fully understand the potential applications and risks of LLMs.