From Optimism to Concern: Unveiling Sentiments and Perceptions Surrounding ChatGPT on Twitter

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, as a product of processes aimed at imitating human intelligence through computers and software, affect our daily lives in various aspects, including cultural, technological, and economic. The advent of ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, signifies a pivotal AI advancement in human language comprehension and generation, heralding profound implications across societal, economic, and cultural dimensions. However, a notable gap exists in scholarly literature concerning the examination of perceptions and discussions surrounding ChatGPT. This study aims to address this gap by analyzing Twitter conversations, comprising 1.1 million tweets containing “ChatGPT” or “#ChatGPT” between December 1 2022 and June 1 2023, with geolocation data. Employing a text as data approach encompassing text, sentiment, and semantic network analyses, sentiment polarity and lexical patterns were explained, while semantic network analysis revealed central expressions and prominent themes in Twitter discussions. The study highlights the social effects of AI technologies from the perspective of Twitter users and reveals the sentimental tendency and themes in tweets with geographical and economic dimensions. The findings reflect the prevalence of positive sentiment and hype toward ChatGPT while there are also concerns regarding privacy, cybersecurity, and misuse of AI tools. More importantly, content generation, technical aspects, business applications, educational use, and competitors are among the main themes of ChatGPT-related discussions on Twitter.