The evolution of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) is drastically reshaping numerous industries and professions, including the realm of system administration. ayonik has successfully developed a POC (proof of concept) of a system to give an AI direct access to the shell of a Linux System to support its administration. This directly leads to thoughts about threats and opportunities of such solutions.
An LLM (Large Language Model, here ChatGPT) has been connected via a plugin to the shell of a Debian Linux system, which then allows system administrators to control the system through natural language commands.
The AI then interprets these natural language commands into Unix directives and performs these on the computer. Furthermore, the AI evaluates the output of these commands to derive further actions. This revolutionary approach to system administration promises numerous potential benefits but also poses some challenges and risks. This essay will explore these aspects and evaluate the potential implications for the future of system administration.