The OpenAI dustup alerts an even bigger drawback

Final week, OpenAI demonstrated new voice choices for its AI assistant. Considered one of them, known as Sky, sounded strikingly just like Scarlett Johansson’s portrayal of a robotic companion within the 2013 film Her. On Monday, Johansson launched a press release expressing her anger and “disbelief” that Sam Altman, the corporate’s CEO, had chosen a voice that intently resembled her personal; she alleged that the corporate had requested to make use of her voice months earlier for its ChatGPT service, and that she had stated no. (Altman maintained that the voice of Sky was “by no means meant to resemble” Johansson’s, and he stated that OpenAI had forged the voice actor earlier than reaching out to Johansson.)

As my colleague Charlie Warzel wrote yesterday in The Atlantic, “The Johansson scandal is merely a reminder of AI’s manifest-destiny philosophy: That is occurring, whether or not you prefer it or not.” I spoke with Charlie this morning concerning the hubris of OpenAI’s management, the uncanny use of human-sounding AI, and to what extent OpenAI has adopted a “transfer quick and break issues” mentality.

First, listed below are three new tales from The Atlantic:

Her Voice

Lora Kelley: From the start, OpenAI has emphasised its lofty mission “to make sure that synthetic common intelligence advantages all of humanity.” Now I’m questioning: Are they only working like some other tech firm attempting to win?

Charlie Warzel: OpenAI sees an enormous opening for his or her expertise—and in some sense, they’re behaving like some other tech firm in attempting to monetize it. However in addition they want a cultural shift in individuals’s expectations round utilizing generative-AI instruments. Proper now, even if numerous individuals use generative AI, it’s nonetheless solely a subset. OpenAI is looking for methods to make this expertise really feel just a little extra human and just a little simpler to undertake in individuals’s on a regular basis lives. That to me was the salient a part of the scenario with Scarlett Johansson: She alleges that Sam Altman stated that her voice could be comforting to individuals.

I consider that the corporate sees its new AI assistant as a step towards making OpenAI much more of a family identify, and making their merchandise appear much less wild or dystopian. To them, that kind of normalization in all probability feels prefer it serves their revolutionary imaginative and prescient. It’s additionally a lot simpler to boost cash for this from outdoors buyers if you happen to can say, Our voice assistant is utilized by a ton of individuals already.

Lora: Johansson alleges that the corporate copied her voice when growing Sky. Final week, Sam Altman even posted the phrase “her” on X, which many interpreted as a reference to the film. Even past how comparable this voice sounded to Johansson’s, I used to be struck by how flirtatious and giggly the female-voiced AI device sounded.

Charlie: There are numerous ranges to it. The gendered, flirty facet is bizarre and doubtlessly unsettling. But when the allegations that the device is referencing Her are correct, then it additionally appears type of like an embarrassing lack of creativity from an organization that has traditionally wowed individuals with innovation. This firm has stated that its mission is to create a godlike intelligence. Now their latest product could possibly be seen as them simply copying the factor from that film. It’s very on the nostril—to say nothing of the irony that the film Her is a cautionary story.

Lora: How does the narrative that AI is an inevitable a part of the long run serve OpenAI?

Charlie: While you hearken to staff of the corporate discuss, there’s this sense of: Simply come on board, the practice isn’t going to cease. I discover that basically hanging. They appear to be sending the message that this expertise is so revolutionary that it may possibly’t be ignored, and we’re going to deploy it, and your life will inevitably change in consequence. There’s a lot hubris there, for them to suppose {that a} group of unelected individuals can change society in that means, and likewise that they confidently know that that is the proper future.

I don’t wish to reflexively rail in opposition to the thought of constructing new, transformative applied sciences. I simply suppose that there’s a hand-waving, dismissive nature to the way in which that this crew talks about what they’re constructing.

Lora: What does this dustup inform us about Altman and his position because the chief in a second of main change?

Charlie: Sam Altman is de facto good at speaking about AI in a really severe and nuanced means—when he does it publicly. However behind the scenes, it could be a distinct story.

When he was fired from OpenAI in November, the board stated that he was not “persistently candid” in his conversations with them. If Scarlett Johansson’s allegations are true, it could additionally counsel that he was not behaving in a persistently candid method in these dealings.

And when stuff like this involves gentle, it really does forged doubt on his skill to successfully lead this firm. The general public stance of OpenAI has all the time been that the corporate is constructing this transformative expertise, which may have large downsides. Nonetheless, they are saying that they function in a particularly moral and deeply thought of method—so it is best to belief them to construct this.

This episode means that maybe the corporate has a normal “transfer quick and break issues” mentality. That, on prime of different current unforced errors—Altman’s abrupt firing earlier than getting rehired, the resignations of staff targeted on AI security—offers us a view into how the corporate operates when it’s not being watched. Figuring out that that is the group of individuals constructing this expertise doesn’t give me a terrific sense of reduction.

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Stephanie Bai contributed to this article.

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