OpenAI CEO Expresses Sleepless Concern Over ChatGPT

• Financial

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has voiced deep concerns about ChatGPT, OpenAI's premier artificial intelligence (AI) invention. Altman's apprehension is so acute that it keeps him awake at night, reflecting on the unforeseen dangers this AI technology might harbor.

Raising the Red Flag

Altman's admission came during a recent visit to India where he addressed the audience at an event hosted by the Economic Times. The event marked another pit stop on his journey to tackle the ethical quagmires surrounding AI development.

The charismatic CEO confessed to a sense of guilt, fearing he may have unwittingly unleashed something potentially harmful into the world with the creation of ChatGPT. "What I lose the most sleep over is the hypothetical idea that we already have done something really bad by launching ChatGPT," Altman expressed to Satyan Gajwana, vice president of Times Internet.

His unease stems from the worry that "maybe there was something difficult and complicated" that his team may have overlooked during the development process of the chatbot.

Regulating the Artificial Intelligence Frontier

The elephant in the room was, unsurprisingly, the issue of regulating AI, to which Altman agreed that a more streamlined system was necessary for oversight.

He proposed a regulatory setup akin to that of nuclear power. He suggested that AI innovations should undergo rigorous safety tests before deployment and creators should be licensed. "Let's have a system in place so that we can audit people who are doing it, license it, have safety tests before deployment," Altman posited, voicing his vision for safer AI development.

Altman is not alone in his apprehension about AI. Earlier this month, he joined over 350 scientists and tech leaders in signing a statement expressing deep concern about the perils associated with artificial intelligence. "Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war," the statement read, highlighting the gravity of the issue at hand.