AI apps such as ChatGPT could play a role in Whitehall, says science secretary

ChatGPT can generate articles, essays, jokes, poetry and job applications in response to text prompts. OpenAI, a private company backed by Microsoft, made it available to the public for free in November.

It can respond to questions in a human-like manner and understand the context of follow-up queries much like in human conversations, as well as being able to compose longform pieces of writing if asked.

Earlier this week, the International Baccalaureate announced that schoolchildren are allowed to quote from content created by ChatGPT in their essays.

The IB, which offers an alternative qualification to A-levels and Highers, said students could use the chatbot but must be clear when they were quoting its responses.

ChatGPT reached 100 million users in February, only two months after launching, according to analysts.

It had about 590m visits in January from 100 million unique visitors, according to analysis by data firm Similarweb.

Analysts at investment bank UBS said the rate of growth was unprecedented for a consumer app.

In comparison, it took TikTok about nine months after its global launch to reach 100 million users and Instagram more than two years, according to data from Sensor Tower, an app analysis firm.