The CEO of OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, said Tuesday that the dangers that keep him up at night when it comes to artificial intelligence are the very subtle societal misalignments that could wreak havoc on systems.
Sam Altman, speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai via video call, reiterated his call for the creation of a body like the International Atomic Energy Agency to oversee AI which is likely to advance more quickly provided that.
There are things in there that are easy to imagine where things go really wrong. And I’m not very interested in killer robots walking down the street in the sense that things go wrong,” Altman said. “I’m much more interested in very subtle societal misalignments where we just have these systems in society and through none with particularly bad intent, things go horribly wrong.
However, Altman emphasized that the AI industry, like OpenAI, should not be in the driver’s seat when it comes to developing regulations governing the industry.
“We are still at the stage of many discussions. So there you have it, you know, everyone in the world is having a conference. Everyone has an idea, a policy document, and that’s OK,” Altman said. “I think we’re still in a time where debate is necessary and healthy, but at some point in the next few years, I think we have to move forward. towards an action plan benefiting from real support on a global scale.
OpenAI, an artificial intelligence startup based in San Francisco, is one of the leaders in the field. Microsoft has invested around $1 billion in OpenAI. The Associated Press has signed an agreement with OpenAI to access its news archives. Meanwhile, The New York Times sued OpenAI and Microsoft for using its stories without permission to train OpenAI’s chatbots.
The success of OpenAI has made Altman the public face of the rapid commercialization of generative AI and fears about what might result from the new technology.
The United Arab Emirates, an autocratic federation of seven hereditarily ruled sheikhs, shows signs of this risk. Speech remains tightly controlled. These restrictions affect the flow of accurate information that AI programs like ChatGPT rely on as machine learning systems to provide their answers to users.
The Emirates also has the Abu Dhabi company G42, overseen by the country’s powerful national security adviser. G42 has what experts consider to be the world’s first Arabic-language artificial intelligence model. The company has been the subject of espionage allegations due to its ties to a mobile phone app identified as spyware. He was also accused of secretly collecting genetic material from Americans for the Chinese government.
The G42 said it would cut ties with Chinese suppliers over US concerns. However, the discussion with Altman, moderated by UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence Omar al-Olama, did not address any local concerns.
For his part, Altman said he was heartened to see that schools, where teachers feared students would use AI to write their assignments, now see the technology as crucial for the future. But he added that AI is still in its infancy.
I think the reason is that the current technology that we have is like…this very first cell phone with a black and white screen, Altman said. “So give us some time. But I will say I think in a few years it will be a lot better than it is today. And in a decade it should be pretty remarkable.
First publication: February 13, 2024 | 8:38 p.m. STI
