“When Sam Altman Requested a Countersurveillance Review of OpenAI: A Hilarious Tale of Paranoia or Prudence?”
“The Time Sam Altman Asked for a Countersurveillance Audit of OpenAI”
“Coded as it was with a machine’s unyielding literalism, Miley Cyrus lacked the subtlety to discern the nuances of language, and its training on internet text had not endowed it with any perceptible sense of humor. It was as emotionless as its namesake.” A brand new piece from WIRED pulls the curtain on artificial intelligence in an intriguing and thought-provoking way.
Ahhh, artificial intelligence, that enduring beacon of science fiction. It’s been touted around as mankind’s imminent existential risk, a threat to job security, or the solution to all of humanity’s problems (depending on who you ask). But it seems there’s quite a lot of, let’s say, misinterpretation about what AI really is and what we can actually use it for.
Wired’s tour-de-force article highlights the unprecedented power of AI using the humorous example of Miley Cyrus, an AI prototype incapable of handling humor and nuances of language. That’s right, folks. The digital revolution may be here, but your digital assistant isn’t quite ready to split sides with its witty banter.
AI in its current state can’t quite capture the plethora of human intricacy – and it seems, not everyone is entirely chuffed about it. One of those naysayers is none other than Tesla’s main man, Elon Musk. Here’s a billionaire tech mogul who’s putting his cash where his mouth is in warning us all about the potential catastrophic future of AI. Whether needed or slightly exaggerated, his fear of ‘immortal dictator’ AI seems to be triggering the right debates in tech circles.
However, amidst Musk’s techpocalypse forecast, there’s another Silicon Valley favourite entering the AI debate, Sam Altman, co-founder of OpenAI (a name that sounds more like a sci-fi novel than a tech company). His outlook? More ethereal and less apocalyptic. But don’t be fooled, he’s nowhere near the techno-optimists who staunchly believe AI is all rainbows and unicorns.
In fact, Altman, despite cheerleading for a strongly regulated AI environment, admits they sometimes do ‘stupid’ things. A stupid thing for an AI? Probably reading your request for weather updates as an oddly outdated Miley Cyrus joke. But then, who said tech whizzes don’t have a beautiful sense of understated humor?
Yet no matter who you find more persuasive in this AI dramatocracy – Musk the herald of doom or Altman, the cautiously optimistic realist – there’s one thing both are trying to hammer home, AI isn’t going away. So gear up folks, because this ride is just taking off. The debate on AI is more than just a tit-for-tat between two billionaire tech gurus. It’s about understanding our role and reshaping our anticipations about a technology that’s not quite there yet, but promises to change everything soon.
Aaah, the saga of human versus machine continues! If only AI had a sense of humor to enjoy it too! Stay tuned as we continue to navigate this tangled web of silicon, circuits, and existential angst.