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.

Here are some of the main findings:

• Overall, the discussion of #GPT3 is more positive and the discussion of #ChatGPT is more negative.
• The discussion surrounding ChatGPT and GPT-3 primarily revolves around relative advantage and compatibility.
• 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.

Topics Discussed in #ChatGPT Tweets

Number	Topic Label	High-Probability Words	Example Tweet
1	User feedback	ask, like, know, write, think, one, tri, time, peopl, joke	“My single advice to #ChatGPT is that it should just say ‘I don’t know’ for things it doesn’t know or is not very sure of. Spitting out convincing-looking nonsense is the worst thing that can greatly harm people who rely on it.”
2	Online games (advertisement)	tech, machinelearn, token, chat, python, robot, game, coin, web, artificialintellig	“Play https://t.co/7AV9V1Ghfp #mmorpg #space #starwars #eve #fortnite #startrek #AI #dalle #COD #cs #ChatGPT #pubg  #pc #nintendo #ps5 #ps4 #aiart #art #mmo #trippy #nft #fantasy #RPG #minecraft #vr #ar #xbox”
3	Cryptocurrency investment (advertisement)	launch, futur, crypto, nft, part, invest, eth, readi, airdrop, join	“Ready to join the revolution? Invest in #ChatGPT coin today and be a part of the decentralized future of money! #web3 https://t.co/hlgW5f4eJm”
4	Stocks and trading (advertisement)	openai, googl, artificialintellig, chatbot, check, bard, free, resum, trade, power	“Take a look to $BANR #investments #daytrading #investing #YOLO #news #ToTheMoon #RedditArmy #StocksToWatch  #trading #StocksToBuy #options #Stocks #bottomfishing #ChatGPT https://t.co/fKuSatAvw1”
5	AI application in search engines and art	microsoft, search, bing, openai, midjourney, dall, engin, project, new, art	“Chinese Search Giant Baidu to Launch #ChatGPT-Style Bot #Baidu, known as #China’s #Google, will embed it in search engine. Tech giants in the US and China are in a race to adopt #AI https://t.co/15O7p1TtpL”
6	Strategies for content creation	use, help, creat, generat, tool, content, make, code, market, busi	“Write website copy: #ChatGPT can be used to generate unique, high-quality #websites copy, including product descriptions, #landingpage, and more. You could offer this service to businesses looking to improve the quality of their #websites content.”
7	Blockchain (advertisement)	resum, altcoin, generat, bot, web, impress, crypto, nfts, xgem, cryptocurr	“@xFloGems $FLUX #Flux #poUW #FLUXUSDT #AI #FluxNodes #CloudComputing #Cloud #Web3  #Mining #Kadena #Decentralization #ChatGPT #GameFi #cryptocurrency #altcoins #cryptomarket #BUIDLing”
8	Writing prompts	prompt, chat, thank, job, interest, share, feel, list, first, tweet	“Prompt for copywriting https://t.co/YYV3DwcBG4 #chatgpt #chatgptprompts #chatbot #chatbotai #aichatbot #ai #artificialintelligence #aiprompts #prompts #writingprompts #ideaprompts #creativeprompts”
9	Education and AI	answer, question, learn, model, languag, educ, use, student, read, data	“@driderk @CollinRugg As a language model, it can generate human-like responses to a wide range of inputs, but it’s not capable of conducting independent research or providing original reporting. It’s not a substitute for traditional teaching. #ChatGPT #AI”
10	AI future and innovations	world, futur, technolog, next, new, live, big, innov, mind, excit	“Are you afraid of the AI future? Listen to the dystopian voices of ChatGPT on the mini concept album ‘AI – The Rise’ (7 Min). It will blow your mind! https://t.co/TUfLcj9Qub #OpenAI #ChatGPT #AIArtwork #aiartcommunity #bandcamp https://t.co/EJTZUo2Sch”

Topics Discussed in #GPT3 Tweets

Number	Topic Label	High-Probability Words	Example Tweet
1	Adoption of OpenAI	use, openai, generat, chat, write, creat, tool, new, code, get	“Build WhatsApp bot using Meta Cloud APIs – Check GPT3 API integration with WhatsApp – Build an awesome use case for this integration – GPT3 powered travel assistant, check it out! https://t.co/WuK9GbHXNJ #WhatsApp #gpt3 #metaapi #OpenAI”
2	AI bias	input, output, race, avoid, medrxiv, internet, bias, engin, phenotyp, artificialintellig	“Input will bias output; like with humans. The question is, was the input data subjective, or is it representative of the ideas on the internet. The former is bias of the engineers. The later is bias of the loudest Internet complainers. #ai #GPT3 #bias #BigTech @Cernovich”
3	Use of AI in virtual assistants or chatbots	openai, free, support, pleas, ranklinmediaau, tweetbot, virtual, wish, assistant, happi	“Wish you all a blessed year ahead! May your days be filled with joy and success. Eid Mubarak and Happy New Yearfrom everyone at Virtual AI assistant. #NYE #HappyNewYear #franklinmediaau #tweetbot #gpt3 #openai”
4	AI application in art	help, art, better, need, also, midjourney, follow, like, space, softwar	“An old men image created by AI #stablediffusion #AIArtwork #AI #midjourney #OpenAI #dalle #gpt3 #art #promptengineering”
5	AI-powered multimedia creation services (advertisement)	dall, imag, generat, text, audio, uniqu, awesom, use, work, aitextgener	“Generate Awesome unique images, text, Audio using AI #AIart #aiartcommunity #MultipleWords #AI #Text #Image #Audio #Generator #AIImageGenerator #AITextGenerator #AIAudioGenerator #StableDiffusion #GPT3 #DALLE https://t.co/NSvtF3yL9s”
6	Trading (advertisement)	prompt, data, trade, built, train, one, model, new, larg, leverag	“@MyMetaTrader is The next-gen lev trading built on @Arbitrum leverage – multiple assets one single vault $MMT with #GPT3 Trade smarter, not harder with high very less supply ..and strong project $MMT #MyMetaTrader @MyMetaTrader Join fast #MyMetaTrader”
7	Biomedical research	haiku, stablediffus, sar, cell, cov, protein, memori, genet, cancer, genom	“Imagine an AI/LLM that ingested and trained on the worlds data, similar to #GPT3 and the coming #GPT4 including all of the worlds scholarly studies with raw data, structured data and summaries. Areas such as: Education, Climate, Genetics & IQ, Social Issues, Biotech Research. How scary the academia would be.”
8	AI-generated stories	like, time, one, know, look, make, thing, get, think, said	“@gyzkard, she always pulls her sweater over her head, and then she takes off without a word. I try to explain that I’m sorry but it doesn’t work because the moment she opens the door, someone will get up there and push me back down onto my bed! Created by #gpt3”
9	Exploring the AI technology landscape	languag, model, learn, technolog, artificialintellig, chatbot, futur, machinelearn, nlp, busi	“Exploring the #AI technology landscape: From #MachineLearning to natural language processing. AI is revolutionizing the way we interact with #technology. #TechTrends #Python #GPT3 #AITrend #AITransformation #DEVCommunity #100DaysOfCode #Digital #NeuralNetworks #IoT #nlp”
10	Comparing human and GPT-3 performance	human, mani, research, import, may, system, found, inform, nerdjok, paper	“2/2 Researchers compared the performance of human reasoners and GPT-3 on various analogical reasoning tests and found that in most cases, GPT-3 was able to match or even surpass humans capabilities for abstract pattern induction #GPT3 #GPT4 #AI”

Zou, W., Li, J., Yang, Y., & Tang, L. (2023). Exploring the early adoption of Open AI among laypeople and technical professionals: An analysis of Twitter conversations on ChatGPT and GPT-3. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction. DOI: 10.1080/10447318.2023.2295725 [Full text]