OpenAI leaders propose international regulatory body for AI
TechCrunchMay 23, 2023
The Facts
Co-founders of ChatGPT developer OpenAI, Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever, as well as CEO Sam Altman, have called for the regulation of "superintelligent" artificial intelligence (AI), specifically pointing to the need for a global body like the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In a statement posted to the company website, they said such a watchdog would need to "inspect systems, require audits, test for compliance with safety standards, (and) place restrictions on degrees of deployment and levels of security."
The Spin
Narrative A
While OpenAI's calls for regulation still remain quite vague, the fact that the world's leader in AI development is voicing such alarm is a positive sign. Altman and other AI developers certainly enjoy the power and profit that come from their companies, but, at the moment they're on the side of good, and lawmakers should team up with them before actual bad actors get their hands on these robotic threats to humanity.
Narrative B
AI executives like Sam Altman may seem like they're calling for ethical regulation of the industry, but in reality, they're playing sleight-of-hand games with politicians. The fact that the US government is taking advice from OpenAI, whose top investor is Microsoft, shows regulatory capture is likely coming for the AI industry. Once this happens, you can forget about market competition and holding Big Tech accountable, as these Silicon Valley executives will have a monopoly on both the technology and those hired to regulate it.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance that there will be a positive transition to a world with radically smarter-than-human artificial intelligence, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
