A WVU expert on artificial intelligence says after three years operating in the real world, AI models like ChatGPT excel when they defer to human decision-makers. (WVU Illustration/Katelyn Short)
November marks ChatGPT’s third birthday and, in that time, a West Virginia University expert on governmental and business use of artificial intelligence says the platform has evolved from a “neat demo” to a “default coworker,” reshaping daily life faster than anyone anticipated.
However, Joshua Meadows, service assistant professor and director of Data Driven WV at the WVU John Chambers College of Business and Economics, added ChatGPT’s strength still lies in enhancing workflows, not replacing humans.
Quotes:
“ChatGPT is now a household name and an essential business tool, but where it needs to shine is as a workflow assistant with accountability. To serve our needs, ChatGPT must treat its own outputs merely as drafts, keeping humans responsible for decisions. That’s how its early promise is going to translate into repeatable, trustworthy results.
“So far, ChatGPT is excellent at transforming information — summarizing, drafting, reformatting. Pair it with other tools, and you can generate first drafts of your emails, triage submissions to a website ‘contact us’ link, standardize spreadsheets or convert policies into step-by-step checklists. If we come up with a reliable prompt, put it to work and keep improving it, ChatGPT has reached the point where it can do a great job for us.
“But ChatGPT still hasn’t mastered reliability. Hallucinations and bias are better understood but not eliminated. Long, multistep reasoning can still drift. Integrating external data or tools can be a problem. Governance, including issues of privacy and attribution, is a work in progress. And costs are also variable — getting a return on investment still requires keeping a human in the loop.
“ChatGPT’s pace of change has been so fast over the last three years that I now teach an entire course at WVU training undergraduates in AI consulting, because that’s what the field is already demanding. As we head into 2026, students are learning the winning pattern for ChatGPT is augmenting human labor, not replacing it. Organizations that formalize guardrails like rules for data handling and metrics for measuring ChatGPT’s outcomes are seeing durable value. Organizations that skip those basics end up with one-off demos that don’t survive contact with real customers.” —Joshua T. Meadows, director of Data Driven WV, and service assistant professor, WVU John Chambers College of Business and Economics
West Virginia University experts can provide commentary, insights and opinions on various news topics. Search for an expert by name, title, area of expertise or college/school/department in the Experts Database at WVUToday.
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zi/11/12/25
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