  Large language models (LLMs) and dialogue agents have existed for years, but
the release of recent GPT models has been a watershed moment for artificial
intelligence (AI) research and society at large. Immediately recognized for its
generative capabilities and versatility, ChatGPT's impressive proficiency
across technical and creative domains led to its widespread adoption. While
society grapples with the emerging cultural impacts of ChatGPT, critiques of
ChatGPT's impact within the machine learning community have coalesced around
its performance or other conventional Responsible AI evaluations relating to
bias, toxicity, and 'hallucination.' We argue that these latter critiques draw
heavily on a particular conceptualization of the 'human-centered' framework,
which tends to cast atomized individuals as the key recipients of both the
benefits and detriments of technology. In this article, we direct attention to
another dimension of LLMs and dialogue agents' impact: their effect on social
groups, institutions, and accompanying norms and practices. By illustrating
ChatGPT's social impact through three disruptive events, we challenge
individualistic approaches in AI development and contribute to ongoing debates
around the ethical and responsible implementation of AI systems. We hope this
effort will call attention to more comprehensive and longitudinal evaluation
tools and compel technologists to go beyond human-centered thinking and ground
their efforts through social-centered AI.
