OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said yesterday that the dangers that keep him awake at night regarding artificial intelligence (AI) are the “very subtle societal misalignments” that could make the systems wreak havoc.
Altman, speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai via a video call, reiterated his call for a body like the International Atomic Energy Agency to be created to oversee AI that is likely advancing faster than the world expects.
“There’s some things in there that are easy to imagine where things really go wrong. And I’m not that interested in the killer robots walking on the street direction of things going wrong,” Altman said. “I’m much more interested in the very subtle societal misalignments where we just have these systems out in society and through no particular ill intention, things just go horribly wrong.”
Photo: AP
However, Altman stressed that the AI industry, like OpenAI, should not be in the driver’s seat when it comes to making regulations governing the industry.
“We’re still in the stage of a lot of discussion. So there’s, you know, everybody in the world is having a conference. Everyone’s got an idea, a policy paper, and that’s OK,” Altman said. “I think we’re still at a time where debate is needed and healthy, but at some point in the next few years, I think we have to move towards an action plan with real buy-in around the world.”
The success of OpenAI, a San Francisco-based start-up, has made Altman the public face for generative AI’s rapid commercialization — and the fears over what might come from the new technology.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), an autocratic federation of seven hereditarily ruled sheikhdoms, has signs of that risk. Speech remains tightly controlled. Those restrictions affect the flow of accurate information — the same details AI programs like ChatGPT rely on as machine-learning systems to provide their answers for users.
The Emirates also has the Abu Dhabi firm G42, overseen by the country’s powerful national security adviser. G42 has what experts suggest is the world’s leading Arabic-language AI model. The company has faced spying allegations for its ties to a mobile phone app identified as spyware. It has also faced claims it could have gathered genetic material secretly from Americans for the Chinese government.
G42 has said it would cut ties to Chinese suppliers over US concerns. However, the discussion with Altman, moderated by UAE Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence Omar al-Olama, touched on none of the local concerns.
For his part, Altman said he was heartened to see that schools, where teachers feared students would use AI to write papers, now embrace the technology as crucial for the future, but he added that AI remains in its infancy.
“I think the reason is the current technology that we have is like ... that very first cellphone with a black-and-white screen,” Altman said. “So give us some time. But I will say I think in a few more years it’ll be much better than it is now. And in a decade it should be pretty remarkable.”
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