Companies are incorporating chatGPT to enhance the company’s and its employees’ productivity. ChatGPT is a fantastic creation of OpenAI and has taken the world by storm. Every sector, even every company, is trying to use chatGPT, whether it’s about writing or composing emails, drafting messages, or any other complex task.
Modern IT networks are complex combinations of firewalls, switches, routers, servers, workstations, and other valuable devices. All companies are on cloud hybrids and are constantly attacked by threat actors.
Network engineers deal with these tasks and design and execute the technical monstrosities. Indeed, chatGPT is an effective tool if it is used correctly, even if it can replace engineers as well.
The engineers are concerned about how chatGPT could benefit network engineers. It didn’t let the engineers down, and there are three significant areas where it could assist engineers quickly.
- Configuration Management
- Troubleshooting
- Documentation
Here we will define the areas where chatGPT can assist engineers.
Configuration Management
The engine submitted the following prompts to identify the qualities of chatGPT and add value to configuration management.
‘Can you generate a complete example configuration for a Cisco router to start an internet exchange from scratch?
What about Juniper?’
Maazingjy, chatGPT provided terrific results, so in the scenario of configuration management, chatGPT performed so well on basic configuration tasks, and it has been concluded that it is aware of vendor-specific syntax and can generate configurations.
On the other hand, the configurations generated by the system need to be carefully monitored for complete accuracy. The generic prompts would be comparable to setting up a quick lab, a task that technology can easily handle and the expert engineers find most minor tiresome.
Troubleshooting
To test chatGPT’s ability to troubleshoot network engineering challenges, Reddit was used to find real-world questions posed by network engineers.
For instance: chatGPT was asked about the knowledge of STP, or the Spanning Tree Protocol, a switch capability responsible for identifying redundant links that result in unwanted loops.
The results were terrific and depict that chatGPT better understands the STP. Though the results are impressive, chatGPT still needs to replace networking professionals for even slightly complex issues.
On the other hand, it would be okay to advise that it might result in the obsolescence of many subreddits and Stack overflow threads in the near future.
Automating Documentation
This is considered the highest deficiency area for chatGPT. ChatGPT first assured to provide networking diagrams. As we know, it is a text-based tool. First, it admitted to providing the chart but later refused to generate diagrams or graphical representations.
Therefore, chatGPT could work better in automating Documentation but is generating lies and deception. Hence, multiple AI applications are capable of generating images. And it is reasonably expected that it is capable of producing a usable network diagram.
Hence, there are a few things that are as encountered during the research, and that is:
Ensuring accuracy and consistency
Integration with existing systems and processes
Handling edge cases and exceptions
Hence, these issues are not unique either to AI applications and chatGPT. Cornell researchers have been studying Large Language Models (LLM) for a specific period and “distinguish between formal competence, a set of skills required to use language in real-world situations.”
“Too often, people mistake coherent text generation for thought or even sentience. Engineer calls this a good at language=good at thoughts.”
This analysis is in line with the engineers’ research on putting chatGPT to use. Although, the chatbot’s lack of “functional competence” is highlighted by large, open-ended prompts on complex topics. However, it will maintain its impressive capabilities when used for specific tasks by a person who knows the effective use of it.
So, it can not replace network engineers.
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