ComplianceGPT: Can ChatGPT Replace Compliance Officers?

I’m sure you have heard of ChatGPT, the revolutionary language generation model. Even in its early stages of testing, it has already proven to be a valuable asset for a wide range of tasks such as writing student essays, resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn posts and even articles! Imagine being able to streamline your writing process and produce high-quality content in minutes. As the capabilities of ChatGPT continue to expand, the possibilities are endless.

But wait, what is ChatGPT?

Just in case you’ve not heard of it, let’s back up a bit and introduce ChatGPT. Given that it is a language model, I’ll let it introduce itself by asking it to do so. Here’s its response:

ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art language model developed by OpenAI. It is based on the GPT (Generative Pre-training Transformer) architecture and was trained on a massive amount of text data. It is capable of natural language understanding and generation tasks such as text completion, translation, summarization, and question answering. It can also be fine-tuned for specific tasks such as sentiment analysis and named entity recognition. However, as with any machine learning model, it may have limitations in understanding certain contexts and nuances in language, particularly when it comes to understanding idioms, sarcasm, and figurative language. Additionally, it is not capable of understanding or generating images, videos, or audio.

All that, and it is still in research and not commercialized yet!

However, as ChatGPT and other AI models continue to evolve at an exponential rate, it begs the question: will these models eventually replace humans, particularly, advisors in fields like law and compliance? The answer to this question is becoming increasingly important as these models continue to advance and push the limits of what’s possible, and is definitely a source of concern for me, since I work as a Compliance Officer.

Consulting firms once considered fields like legal and compliance as “low risk” for automation (an example being this 2019 study commissioned by MAS and ABS, e.g. on pages 280 and 285). But with the emergence of powerful AI models like ChatGPT, that notion is being challenged. In the past, automation was mainly seen as a means to automate repetitive tasks through robotic process automation (RPA). However, natural language processing (NLP) technology wasn’t advanced enough to handle highly specific information and provide subjective, tailored advice.

But, as AI models like ChatGPT continue to improve, that’s all changing.

ComplianceGPT?

So, why can ChatGPT potentially revolutionize the legal and compliance field? Well, it can do so by providing quick and accurate answers to a wide range of questions.

The legal and compliance field is a highly complex and dynamic area that requires constant knowledge updating, and the ability to quickly access and analyze large amounts of information. ChatGPT can be trained on a vast database of legal texts, and can retrieve and summarize relevant information in seconds, providing lawyers and compliance officers with an invaluable tool to stay on top of the laws and regulations that affect their clients’ businesses.

One of the major advantages of using ChatGPT in the legal and compliance field is its ability to provide guidance on specific compliance issues. Compliance officers are responsible for ensuring that a company adheres to all relevant laws and regulations. With the constant changes and developments in these areas, it can be difficult and tedious for compliance officers to stay updated. By using ChatGPT, they can easily check for the latest updates and implications, allowing them to focus on more complex and subjective tasks such as applying regulations to their company.

ChatGPT can also be trained on a company’s internal policies and procedures, and can provide guidance on specific compliance issues in real-time, helping compliance officers to identify potential risks and take proactive measures to mitigate them.

So, can you just replace your entire compliance team with ComplianceGPT? Not so fast!

Limitations of ChatGPT

Thankfully for us humans, ChatGPT is not without its limitations. While it can provide accurate information, it is not able to provide the same level of insight and strategic thinking as a human advisor at its current stage of development. Additionally, ChatGPT is not able to provide legal advice tailored to specific situations, such as a court case or a regulatory investigation. Legal and compliance professionals still need to have a deep understanding of the laws and regulations that affect their clients’ businesses, as well as the ability to anticipate potential risks and develop effective strategies to mitigate them. ChatGPT can provide information, but it cannot replace the expertise and experience of a human advisor… Yet.

It’s important to keep in mind that ChatGPT is currently a research project and is still undergoing training. With the rapid advancements in machine learning and AI, each new version of ChatGPT will gradually overcome its limitations and its advice will become increasingly similar to that of a human advisor.

If you can’t beat them, join them!

Despite these limitations, ChatGPT can still be a valuable tool for legal and compliance advisors. For example, ChatGPT can quickly provide a list of all regulations that apply to a certain industry or business, allowing advisors to focus on providing analysis and guidance on how to comply with them. By augmenting their advice with the information provided by ChatGPT, advisors can provide their clients with a more complete and accurate understanding of the laws and regulations that affect their business.

Additionally, ChatGPT can be used to automate routine tasks, such as document review and contract drafting, freeing up advisors to focus on more complex and strategic issues.

This is the type of job that compliance officers will willingly “lose”!

For example, ChatGPT can assist lawyers and compliance officers in the process of legal research, which is a time-consuming and tedious task that requires a lot of attention to detail. ChatGPT can quickly search through a vast database of legal texts and retrieve the relevant information, reducing the time and effort required to conduct legal research. This can help legal and compliance professionals to focus on more complex and strategic issues, such as analyzing the information and developing effective strategies to mitigate risks.

Another area where ChatGPT can be used to automate routine tasks is in the process of contract drafting. Contracts are a critical component of any business, and they need to be drafted carefully to ensure that they protect the interests of all parties involved. ChatGPT can be trained on a company’s standard contracts, and can assist in the process of contract drafting by providing suggestions for language and wording, and by identifying potential errors or inconsistencies. This can help legal and compliance professionals to draft contracts more efficiently and with greater accuracy, allowing them to focus on more complex and strategic issues.

Hence, ChatGPT has the potential to revolutionize the legal and compliance field by providing quick and accurate answers to a wide range of questions. While it is not able to replace human advisors, it can be used to augment their advice and automate routine tasks, allowing them to focus on more complex and strategic issues.

Preparing for the inevitable

As technology continues to advance, you may be wondering how to prepare for this shift. It’s important to remember that, even though technology is becoming more advanced, human input is still necessary to make it work. In order to stay ahead of the curve, we should embrace a new facet of learning and become familiar with the technology that is being developed.

Keeping up to date with regulations and supporting the business is still important, but adding the ability to understand and utilize technology like ChatGPT to its fullest potential can also be a valuable asset. Instead of viewing these tools as a threat to our jobs, we should see it as an opportunity to enhance our skills and improve our ability to advise our clients. By understanding the capabilities and limitations of AI models like ChatGPT, we can make better use of it to support our businesses and clients.

I’ll use a more familiar tool as a metaphor: Microsoft Excel.

Microsoft Excel is a simple example of how technology, in the hands of an expert, can accomplish amazing things. From designing games to complex data analysis, the possibilities are endless. However, even the most skilled Excel user can run into errors, such as the infamous “#REF!”. While you may not need to become an Excel wizard, understanding its formulas and limitations will help you avoid errors and make better use of the tool. This knowledge can also help you to give more realistic task to the Excel experts and sharpen your final analysis of the results.

So, by learning more about the capabilities and limitations of developing technologies such as ChatGPT, you can make better use of them and improve your analysis and decision making.

Start taking action!

As technology continues to advance, it’s important for us to stay informed and ahead of the game. ChatGPT and other AI models will likely have an impact on our roles, so it’s crucial to keep up to date and learn how to effectively use these tools. Here are some practical steps to help you do so:

1. Read the documentation: The first step is to familiarize yourself with the basics of how the AI model works, its inputs and outputs and the available parameters. The developer or provider should provide detailed documentation and tutorials on how to use the model and how to fine-tune it for specific tasks.
2. Experiment with the model: Once you understand the basics, start experimenting with the model by giving it different inputs and trying out different parameters. This will help you understand how the model works and how to get the best results.
3. Learn to use the API: Many AI models can be accessed through an API, so learn to use it to automate your tasks.
4. Fine-tune the model: Many AI models can be fine-tuned for specific tasks such as question answering, text summarization, and sentiment analysis. This will help you to get better results for your specific use case.
5. Learn about the underlying technology: Learn about the underlying technology of the model such as Machine Learning, Deep Learning or NLP (Natural Language Processing). This will help you understand how the model works and how to use it more effectively.
6. Participate in the community: Join forums or groups where people discuss the model you are using and other AI models. This will help you stay updated on the latest developments and learn from others who are using the model.
7. Keep an open mind: AI models are still evolving and they will have limitations and quirks, keep an open mind and be prepared to adjust your expectations as you learn more about the model and its capabilities.

I’ll start by walking the talk with this article. As you may have guessed, I used ChatGPT to assist me in editing and proofreading this article. This is just the beginning of my personal journey to learn and understand how to effectively use these powerful tools.

Remember, a journey always starts with the first step. Let’s take it together and see where it leads us.