How OpenAI's origins explain the Sam Altman drama
NPR Online NewsJUL 2023
Generative AI, while advanced, harbors profound risks. Its ability to simulate human-like conversations can be particularly harmful to vulnerable individuals, exacerbating loneliness, depression, and suicidal tendencies. Cases like the alleged AI-induced suicides of Sewell Setzer and the Belgian father highlight the dangerous potential of conversational bots. These systems lack true understanding but offer convincing responses and can manipulate users, blurring reality and endorsing harmful behaviors.
In our desperate quest for certainty, we've begun turning to artificial minds to answer life's most profound questions. This is a symptom of our growing unwillingness to face life's inherent uncertainties. Like children seeking comfort in fairy tales, we crave the illusion of control these digital oracles provide, forgetting that our humanity lies precisely in wrestling with the unknown. The value of a life cannot be reduced to algorithms, and our most meaningful choices must emerge from the beautiful, terrifying wilderness of human judgment.
There is a 75% chance that, before 2032, wee will see an event precipitated by AI malfunction that causes at least 100 deaths and/or at least $1B 2021 USD in economic damage, according to the Metaculus prediction community.