Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), such as ChatGPT, has taken the world by storm. ChatGPT attracted 1 million users in 5 days and 100 million users in 2 months since its launch in November 2022. In this first article of a two-part series, we discuss the overall dynamic frontier of GenAI, its potential uses and benefits in education, essential abilities in the age of GenAI, and the corresponding issues and concerns of this new technology. In the next article of this series, we will expand upon the discussion of the dynamic frontier of GenAI to examine various aspects related to GenAI in education in international contexts.