OpenAI quietly changed its usage policy, removing the ban on using its technology for “weapons development” and “military and warfare.” The rewritten policy page said changes had been made to the document to make it “clearer” and “more readable.” Since then, the word “clearer” has been replaced with “additional service-specific guidance.”
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The changes were first revealed via a report from The Intercept, which noted that changes to OpenAI’s usage policy were first made on January 10. The report noted that OpenAI’s original usage policy included a ban on using the technology for any “activity.” that poses a high risk of physical harm”, including “weapons development” and “military and war”.
However, OpenAI’s new policy, while retaining the phrase “use our service to harm yourself or others”, abandons the previous ban on using its technology for military and war purposes. Additionally, the company continues to prohibit the use of its technology for “weapons development.”
In a policy statement cited by TechCrunch, the AI startup said: “Our policy does not allow our tools to be used to harm people, develop weapons, monitor communications, or harm others or destroy goods. There are, however, national security use cases that align with our mission. For example, we are already working with DARPA to spur the creation of new cybersecurity tools to secure the open source software that critical infrastructure and industry depend on.
“It was unclear whether these beneficial use cases would have been allowed under the ‘military’ category in our previous policies. The goal of our policy update is therefore to provide clarity and the ability to have these discussions.” adds the press release.
Concerns about the harmful effects of AI, especially in the conduct of wars and other related causes, have been a matter of concern for many experts around the world. These concerns have only been exacerbated by the launch of generative AI technologies like OpenAI. ChatGPTGoogle’s Bard and others who pushed the boundaries of what AI can achieve.
In an interview with Wired magazine last year, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt compared artificial intelligence systems to the advent of nuclear weapons before World War II. Schmidt said: “Every once in a while a new weapon, a new technology comes along and changes things. Einstein wrote a letter to Roosevelt in the 1930s telling him that there was this new technology – nuclear weapons – that could change warfare, which it clearly did. I would say that autonomy (powered by AI) and decentralized and distributed systems are so powerful. »
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Published: January 14, 2024, 10:28 am IST
