Cited by 192Topic ModelingArtificial Intelligence ApplicationsNatural Language Processing Techniques

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 201 of the 207 references it cites were found in a registry or an index, and 6 are not checked yet; none of the 117 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Decoding ChatGPT: A taxonomy of existing research, current challenges, and possible future directions

Open access
Sohail, Shahab Saquib, Farhat, Faiza, Himeur, Yassine, Nadeem, Mohammad, Madsen, Dag Øivind, Singh, Yashbir, Atalla, Shadi, Mansoor, Wathiq·2023·Journal of King Saud University - Computer and Information Sciences

Abstract

Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (ChatGPT) has gained significant interest and attention since its launch in November 2022. It has shown impressive performance in various domains, including passing exams and creative writing. However, challenges and concerns related to biases and trust persist. In this work, we present a comprehensive review of over 100 Scopus-indexed publications on ChatGPT, aiming to provide a taxonomy of ChatGPT research and explore its applications. We critically analyze the existing literature, identifying common approaches employed in the studies. Additionally, we investigate diverse application areas where ChatGPT has found utility, such as healthcare, marketing and financial services, software engineering, academic and scientific writing, research and education, environmental science, and natural language processing. Through examining these applications, we gain valuable insights into the potential of ChatGPT in addressing real-world challenges. We also discuss crucial issues related to ChatGPT, including biases and trustworthiness, emphasizing the need for further research and development in these areas. Furthermore, we identify potential future directions for ChatGPT research, proposing solutions to current challenges and speculating on expected advancements. By fully leveraging the capabilities of ChatGPT, we can unlock its potential across various domains, leading to advancements in conversational AI and transformative impacts in society.

Checked 2026-10-06 · 6 references not checked yet

Overview

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Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This review synthesizes 109 Scopus-indexed ChatGPT publications up to March 25, 2023, proposing a taxonomy across healthcare, marketing/finance, software engineering, academic/scientific writing, research/education, environmental science, and NLP. It identifies intrinsic and usage-related challenges—hallucination, bias, misinformation, copyright, over-reliance—and future directions in conversational ability, personalization, multimodal design, and trustworthiness.

Key findings

  • Of 109 included articles from 349 authors across 53 nations, medicine was the largest subject area at 23%, followed by social sciences at 20% and computer science at 11%; the United States contributed 33 publications, the United Kingdom 10, and Australia and China 9 each.
  • The corpus comprised 68 evaluations, 39 prediction articles, and 10 reviews; most evaluations focused on scientific writing (30 publications), followed by education and research ability.
  • Applications span healthcare, marketing/financial services, software engineering, academic/scientific writing, research/education, environmental science, and NLP; for example, ChatGPT’s bug-fixing was comparable to CoCoNut and Codex and superior to standard approaches, and in one abstract-generation experiment 68% of generated abstracts were correctly identified while 14% of real abstracts were mistakenly identified as generated.
  • Challenges are categorized as intrinsic (hallucination, biased content, not real-time, misinformation, inexplicability) and usage-related (ethical issues, copyright violation, over-reliance); future directions include improving conversational capabilities, personalization, multimodal design, and trustworthiness.

Methods

  • Systematic literature review following Kitchenham (2004), searching Scopus with inclusion criteria: English, peer-reviewed, keyword “chatgpt” or “chat-gpt” in abstract/title, discusses ChatGPT, and published by March 25, 2023; exclusions included short papers, duplicates, and earlier versions with errata.
  • A total of 109 articles were included and analyzed by subject area, country/collaboration, publication trends, taxonomy, applications, challenges, and future directions.

Limitations

  • The paper states ChatGPT’s own limitations—intrinsic issues such as hallucination, biased content, not being real-time, misinformation, and inexplicability, plus usage-related issues such as ethical concerns, copyright violation, and over-reliance—and notes that early ChatGPT research still faces limitations.
  • The paper does not explicitly label limitations of the review itself; evident from the methodology, the search is limited to Scopus, English, peer-reviewed publications up to March 25, 2023, excluding short papers, duplicates, and errata, making coverage database-specific and time-bound.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.jksuci.2023.101675

Cites

201 of 207 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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86 Not checked yet · 27 Own result · 27 No basis given · 12 Own interpretation · 2 Own method

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  • Probably not a substantial claim. 80
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 39
98 of 98
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The Scopus database and the search queries used capture the relevant literature on ChatGPT.

    “After running search queries, inclusion (IC) and exclusion (EC) criteria were created to filter out the retrieved articles from the Scopus database.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The rapid dissemination of ChatGPT research resulted in a diverse research landscape due to its wide publicity and acceptance at different levels in daily life.

    “The rapid dissemination of ChatGPT research resulted in a diverse research landscape due to its wide publicity and acceptance at different levels in our daily lives.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The 109 articles included from Scopus are representative of the broader literature on ChatGPT.

    “After applying the specified criteria, a total of 109 articles were included in the analysis.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    ChatGPT has the capability to automatically generate responses by drawing information from numerous internet sources, often without requiring further input from the user.

    “ChatGPT has the capability to automatically generate responses by drawing information from numerous internet sources, often without requiring further input from the user.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    ChatGPT is unaware of copyright materials.

    “Since ChatGPT is unaware of copyright materials, verifying the generated content before using/publishing and tagging by humans in case of copyright violation might help to resolve this issue.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Continuous training and updating of ChatGPT requires ongoing resources and infrastructure.

    “Additionally, it is important to note that continuous training and updating of ChatGPT requires ongoing resources and infrastructure to support it.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Speech recognition technology enables ChatGPT to comprehend and recognize spoken words.

    “By processing aural input and translating it into text that software or other devices may use, speech recognition technology enables ChatGPT to comprehend and recognize spoken words.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Video content analysis allows a multimodal ChatGPT to analyze and process video footage, detect objects, and track motions.

    “By incorporating video content analysis, a multimodal ChatGPT can analyze and process video footage, detect objects, and track motions within the video.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Image captioning can be used to add descriptive or explanatory text to images.

    “Similarly, image captioning can be used to add descriptive or explanatory text to images, which can help to make them more accessible and informative for viewers.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Audio captioning can help make audio content more accessible.

    “It would be beneficial for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as nonnative speakers, to add text subtitles to audio information or audio captioning because it can help make audio content more accessible.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Video captioning can provide closed captions or subtitles during conversations.

    “Video captioning can be added to ChatGPT to provide closed captions or subtitles during conversations, making the video content more accessible.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Video indexing allows users to search for specific content within a video using keywords or timestamps.

    “Additionally, video indexing allows users to search for specific content within a video using keywords or timestamps, making it easier to find relevant information quickly.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    ChatGPT is designed to generate responses based on the input it receives.

    “As an AI language model, ChatGPT is designed to generate responses based on the input it receives.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    ChatGPT does not have the ability to actively disclose information about itself or the data it uses to generate responses.

    “While it can provide information and insights, it does not have the ability to actively disclose information about itself or the data it uses to generate responses.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    ChatGPT may not always provide the most nuanced or complete answer to a question, and it may occasionally make mistakes or provide incorrect information.

    “As such, it may not always provide the most nuanced or complete answer to a question, and it may occasionally make mistakes or provide incorrect information.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Transparent AI systems are simpler to comprehend and analyze, they encourage trust and make it more likely that the system will make ethical and legal choices.

    “Because transparent AI systems are simpler to comprehend and analyze, they encourage trust and make it more likely that the system will make ethical and legal choices.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Humans can comprehend and validate an explainable AI's decision-making process, which is crucial for building confidence in AI systems.

    “As a result, humans can comprehend and validate the system's decision-making process, which is crucial for building confidence in AI systems.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Human-Centered Design principles are usually applied in the research and development process of AI language models.

    “In the case of developing AI language models, including ChatGPT, Human-Centered Design principles are usually applied in the research and development process, such as conducting user research to understand the needs and behaviors of people who use language models, testing different design prototypes, and iterating on the design based on user feedback.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    ChatGPT can provide information and insights.

    “While it can provide information and insights, it does not have the ability to actively disclose information about itself or the data it uses to generate responses.”
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Citations

Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 34

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Metadata

Authors
Sohail, S. S., Farhat, F., Himeur, Y., Nadeem, M., Madsen, D. Ø., Singh, Y., Atalla, S., & Mansoor, W.
Affiliations
  • Jamia Hamdard (IN)
  • Aligarh Muslim University (IN)
  • University of Dubai (AE)
  • University of South-Eastern Norway (NO)
  • Mayo Clinic (US)
Corresponding author
  • Sohail, Shahab Saquib
  • Farhat, Faiza
  • Himeur, Yassine
  • Nadeem, Mohammad
  • Madsen, Dag Øivind
  • Singh, Yashbir
  • Atalla, Shadi
  • Mansoor, Wathiq
Venue
Journal of King Saud University - Computer and Information Sciences
Published
2023-09
Volume
35
Issue
8
Pages
101675
ISSN
1319-1578 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4385494594
Cited by
192
References
201
Citations by year
2026: 31 · 2025: 58 · 2024: 84 · 2023: 19
FWCI
18.02
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of King Saud University - Computer and Information Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (cc-by)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Topic Modeling
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Artificial Intelligence Applications
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Natural Language Processing Techniques
Keywords
ChatGPT, large language models, research taxonomy, algorithmic bias, trustworthiness, conversational AI, health care, financial services, software engineering, academic writing, natural language processing

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