If you've been following all of the Sam Altman/OpenAI stories over the past week or so, we can sympathize if you feel a little dizzy right now. It's been a bit of a whirlwind. First, the OpenAI chief executive was ousted by the ChatGPT company's board on Nov. 17. There was a lot of backlash to that decision, particularly from OpenAI employees. Then, just five days later, the company announced that Altman was returning as CEO with a new board.
All the details around this saga remain unclear, but there was one letter to the board, written by OpenAI researchers just prior to Altman's brief exile, which grabbed our attention ... for all the wrong reasons.
BREAKING: Reuters reports that in the lead up to Sam Altman's sacking, 'several staff researchers sent the board of directors a letter warning of a powerful artificial intelligence discovery that they said could threaten humanity'.
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) November 22, 2023
Uh-oh.
OpenAI, which declined to comment, acknowledged in an internal message to staffers a project called Q* and a letter to the board before the weekend's events ... Some at OpenAI believe Q* (pronounced Q-Star) could be a breakthrough in the startup's search for what's known as artificial general intelligence (AGI).
In their letter to the board, researchers flagged AI’s prowess and potential danger, the sources said ... There has long been discussion among computer scientists about the danger posed by highly intelligent machines, for instance if they might decide that the destruction of humanity was in their interest.
UH-OH.
It gets even more interesting in light of the fact that Altman himself appeared before Congress last spring to deliver an interesting and ominous message: AI could bring about the end of humanity ... but we should keep developing it. Even Elon Musk has weighed in on the issue, calling for a pause in advanced AI development to get a better handle on the risks it may pose.
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Twitter -- as Twitter always does -- took a calm, sanguine approach to the letter written by OpenAI researchers.
Just kidding.
where have i seen this before? pic.twitter.com/6a31099GOY
— Roundtrippin' Jimmy (@LTTGXBT) November 22, 2023
Damn that plot would make a great movie, totally original.
— Perry (@KyleAnthonie) November 22, 2023
The Matrix was a documentary
— naim (@seveneightnaim) November 23, 2023
But if we can learn kung fu and how to fly a helicopter instantly, is it all bad?
only one man can kill it https://t.co/cd9d56b2sZ pic.twitter.com/V2LPj1LrZB
— Trader (@vicsyoutube) November 23, 2023
Or can he? We won't know until Part Two comes out ... if Part Two comes out. We're not sure if AI might just decide to destroy that movie before anyone can see it.
AI to Sam, the day before: https://t.co/Y3zHtelbXj pic.twitter.com/ZkATSEOCYJ
— Anon1Oil (@Anon1Oil) November 23, 2023
Call me paranoid, but I don't trust a bunch of Silicon Valley kids with a Hellraiser puzzle box...
— Dean Samed (@DeanSamed) November 23, 2023
When it comes to AGI, we need checks and balances on a global level.
The fate of the world is in the hands of hyper-ambitious people who 'break things'. Freaky timeline. https://t.co/jou9ChfLsl
Awww, man. Pinhead and all those Cenobites are freaky scary. Please, let it not be them.
MSFT right now: https://t.co/YFZx2ItjMd pic.twitter.com/9sX0RL01Jw
— SKI-UR-ASS (@ax8os_skiourhs) November 23, 2023
Somehow ... Microsoft came back. Where is Rey when you need her?
It’s happening https://t.co/Z3sp9BoMBk pic.twitter.com/JbtJq8F0xl
— Jas (@silaseaaa) November 23, 2023
Westworld always seems like a great idea ... until it's not.
Still, maybe it's not quite time to hit the 'WE'RE ALL DOOOOOMED' panic button just yet.
Further analysis revealed that said AI
— Rory Johnston (@Rory_Johnston) November 23, 2023
1) has the potential to destroy humanity
2) still hasn’t quite nailed PDF-to-Excel table conversions https://t.co/XVl2Np4D1u
This is the new climate crisis hoax. They will always be on the verge of something groundbreaking, it'll always be right around the corner, and it will never ever arrive. Not in ten years, and not in a thousand https://t.co/gK5TLnMz1A
— normie macdonald 🇺🇲 (@SWENGDAD) November 23, 2023
Possible, yes.
The sad truth is that, if AI does anything that will destroy humanity, it probably won't be as sexy as it is in the movies, with wars and lasers and skull-crushing, liquid metal terminators. It's far more likely that AI will just render humanity useless and obsolete.
That might not sound like as sexy of a movie, but we've seen that one too. It was called 'Ex Machina' and it was far scarier than anything Arnold Schwarzenegger ever gave us.
I'm ready for it. Ex Macina was a great movie. https://t.co/sZfk1WsUzK pic.twitter.com/pdLXoxeTxS
— HORSE (@TheFlowHorse) November 23, 2023
Anyway, just in case this is our last Thanksgiving as a species, we hope you have a happy one.
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