ChatGPT-enabled Network Automation using API-based Prompts

In the rapidly evolving world of network provisioning and management, the traditional approach to device configuration has proven to be error-prone and time-consuming, especially in large-scale deployments. The emergence of network automation has sought to address these challenges by leveraging software to perform tasks which were traditionally executed manually by network engineers. However, utilizing these tools requires technical expertise. This study explores the potential of using Large Language Models (LLMs), specifically ChatGPT, to generate Ansible Playbooks for automating network deployment tasks. The goal is to eliminate the need for network engineers to prepare automation scripts. An application named "Bubbln" was developed to prompt ChatGPT through APIs and execute the ChatGPT-generated playbooks on a network of four Cisco routers. A systematic evaluation of this approach reveals impressive results including 99% accuracy, 100% reliability, a 62% improvement in efficiency compared to traditional approach and a 13.52% efficiency gain over manually prepared playbook approach. These results highlight ChatGPT as a promising tool to enhance existing network automation approaches.