Global Cooperation Needed to Regulate AI, Says Openai CEO

On 9 Friday, Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT creator OpenAI, used a high-profile trip to South Korea to argue for coordinated worldwide regulation of generative artificial intelligence. This technology powers his well-known chatbot.

“As these systems get very, very powerful, that does require special concern, and it has a global impact. So it also requires global cooperation,” Altman said at an event in Seoul, ahead of a meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

He is one of the hundreds of prominent researchers who recently cautioned about the threat of AI extinction, arguing that minimizing such risk “should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.” Altman emphasized on Friday that his issue was “not our inability to adapt, but the speed at which this might all happen.”

He said-

“If you study the history of technological revolutions, it seems like roughly in two generations; we can adapt to almost any labour market change. But if this happens in 10 years, that’s a new challenge.” 

Governments are under pressure to regulate artificial intelligence. President Yoon emphasized the importance of international norms in preventing adverse “side effects” associated with platforms such as ChatGPT in a Friday statement, saying there was a need to act “with a sense of urgency.”

According to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as described by Reuters, top US and European officials gathered in Sweden last month to discuss AI governance. They agreed to help establish voluntary rules of conduct.

Authorities in China will also “be initiating AI regulation,” according to Elon Musk, who helped form OpenAI before leaving the organisation. According to Reuters, Musk he referenced discussions with senior government officials during his trip to China last week. ChatGPT, which can perform various duties such as answering prompts and writing essays, has caused several firms to reconsider how employees should work.

In March, its creator, OpenAI, presented GPT-4, a more advanced software version that powers the bot. It demonstrates how it can simplify coding, assist in creating websites, and help students pass examinations with high scores.

The effect on jobs

Because of the rise of artificial intelligence, economists have warned of a massive upheaval in the labour market. According to Goldman Sachs, generative AI could potentially automate as many as 300 million full-time jobs worldwide.

A World Economic Forum estimate released in April shows that 14 million jobs could be lost in the next five years. Certain white-collar workers are particularly vulnerable, with administrative staff and lawyers predicted to suffer the most.

Altman said at an event hosted by SoftBank (SFTBF)-

“I think what will happen is not that none of us has jobs, but we have different kinds of jobs that may not look much like today’s jobs.”

“And when people 100 years from now look back at us now, they’ll be like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe they lived like that.”

Like other experts, Altman emphasized that the technology would create new employment and sectors “that weren’t possible before.”

He said-

“Asked by an audience member how students should plan to survive in the age of AI, It’s not a question of survival.”

Altman said-

“You are about to enter, I think like, the greatest golden age of human possibility, technological development, economic growth,”

“The ability to learn new things fast and adapt to them and sort of evolve yourself into technology, those skills that I think will be very much rewarded.”

When asked whether exact restrictions he thought should be enacted, Altman provided little information, saying that for the time being, it made sense for individual countries to establish their policies “in different ways.”

However, he stated that an international conversation is starting concerning AI platforms’ long-term, global impacts as they continue to “automate more and more.”

According to the executive’s tweet, Altman’s travel to Seoul came after a Thursday trip where he met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed “how the country can benefit” from AI. This week’s overseas trip has included stops in Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and South Korea.