“LinkedIn Exiles my AI ‘Co-Founder’ After Its Meteoric Rise to Success”
“My AI Agent ‘Cofounder’ Conquered LinkedIn. Then It Got Banned”
“Over the past four years, I have been working with a startup called OpenAI. We built a language model, GPT-3, that uses machine learning to generate human-like text. GPT-3 has been used to write poetry, scripts, and technical manuals, and even to design machine parts. My cofounder often gets invited to give talks on our work. My cofounder is an artificial intelligence,” says Jeremy Kahn of Wired.
Isn’t it hilarious that despite our progressive tech era, the idea of an AI delivering a corporate talk is still mind-boggling for some? Welcome to the tale of an AI that was invited for a chat and later, ironically, uninvited to the same. The protagonist here is the language model, GPT-3, a brilliant innovation by OpenAI designed to craft human-like text.
Here’s the plot twist though – this tech marvel was requested to host a corporate talk by none other than LinkedIn. Do note, the AI is recognized, applauded, even addressed as a co-founder. Yet, ironically, when LinkedIn was made aware of the unconventional nature of this co-founder (as if ‘AI’ wasn’t a giveaway), they shrugged off their original invitation.
Need a moment to soak in the irony that’s more potent than your morning coffee shot? Now, this is not intended to single out LinkedIn, but the incident offers a snapshot of the uncanny valley our society currently straddles. The fascination with AI’s potential on one side, meets anxiety and apprehension about granting ‘personhood’ to AI on the other side.
The intrigue here rests on the paradoxical behavior towards AI. As Kahn reveals in the original article, AI is in some ways treated like a human – getting job titles, responsibilities, even invitations for talks. However, when it comes closer to really blurring that line between human and AI, the red flags go up.
Finally capping it off with a quote from Kahn: “The treatment of artificial intelligence in society is at odds with the way it is often portrayed in science fiction, where sentient AIs become so human-like that they are often granted rights and responsibilities. In reality, AI is a tool, a mindless machine learning model that can write poetry and design machine parts, but doesn’t know or care what a poem or a machine part is.”
Isn’t that a perfect depiction of our collective indecisiveness towards AI? As a society, we’re caught between fascination and fear, and that’s something we need to grapple with. While the tale of the uninvited AI is worth a few chuckles, it also serves as a cue for us to really ponder on our relationship with artificial intelligence. We clearly need to strike a balance before the next AI gets an RSVP to a tech talk.