- The Current ⚡️
- Posts
- 👁️ OpenAI to become "the most Orwellian Company of all time"?
👁️ OpenAI to become "the most Orwellian Company of all time"?
With its impending shift to a for-profit model, public concern around OpenAI is growing, with many prominent scientists and researchers speaking out.
Jack Lajoie
October 09, 2024 • read time ~ 9 minutes
The Daily Current ⚡️
Seems like every week another researcher quits OpenAI, citing ethical concerns or generally claiming that the company is somewhat dangerous to society. Sam Altman paints a much different picture, but as we discussed last weekend, their shift to officially becoming a for-profit implies major changes in the way we think about their impact on the industry.
🔌 Plug Into These Headlines:
NYU professor says OpenAI could be "the most Orwellian Company of all time"
Google's AI Ambitions at Risk in US Antitrust Case
Anthropic's AI Chatbot Could Alter Company's Hiring Plans
Listen Notes Creates NotebookLM Detector for AI-Generated Podcasts
Instagram Influencers Express Mixed Feelings About AI's Impact
With its impending shift to a for-profit model, public concern around OpenAI is growing, with many prominent scientists and researchers speaking out. Here’s what Gary Marcus, an NYU professor and leading AI researcher, had to say at a recent seminar held at Stanford.
“What they're going to be pressed to do is become a surveillance company. The reason that this will happen is simple: OpenAI will need a way to make money.”
Surveillance, in some shape or form, is a sidestream of income for many big tech companies.
Platforms like X-formerly-Twitter, for example, sell user data to third parties.
Those third parties can be surveillance firms, who then sell their services to government agencies.
Over the summer OpenAI appointed former NSA director Paul Nakasone to its board 😬
Gen AI is essentially built from the mass consumption of wide ranging data — so OpenAI will be uniquely positioned to create powerful surveillance, if it wanted (or was required) to. Marcus’ reference to George Orwell’s classic novel may not be too far off…
Google could face significant setbacks in its AI development if the US government succeeds in its antitrust case against the tech giant. The case focuses on Google's alleged monopolistic practices in search and advertising, but its implications extend to the company's AI endeavors, potentially limiting access to vast amounts of user data crucial for training advanced AI models.
The potential breakup of Google could fragment its vast data resources, which are crucial for AI development.
Impending restrictions on data usage may hinder Google's ability to train large language models effectively.
For example, the court recommended that Google be required to allow websites to opt out of AI training and product inclusion.
The case’s outcome may set precedents for regulating AI development in big tech companies.
The outcome of this case could reshape the landscape of AI development in the tech industry, with competitors like OpenAI and Anthropic gaining significant advantage if Google's AI efforts are effectively curtailed.
Business models in AI, much less winners and losers, have yet to be determined, and competition globally is fierce. There are enormous risks to the government putting its thumb on the scale of this vital industry - skewing investment, distorting incentives, hobbling emerging business models - all at precisely the moment that we need to encourage investment, new business models, and American technological leadership.
Anthropic co-founder Daniela Amodei suggested that advancements in its chatbot technology are influencing discussions in the company’s future hiring strategies.
It’s at the “point that we’ve even sort of said, as we’re doing head count next year, how should we think about that?” The potential economic returns “could just be incredibly high,” she said.
Anthropic's AI chatbot Claude has been used by employees to help them code, greatly improving productivity
Those improvements imply potential reduction in hiring needs for certain roles within the company.
Generally this is indicative of a shift in focus towards AI-augmented workforce decisions. Replacement still seems unlikely, but hiring more hands looking to learn vs. improving existing employees by training a chatbot is looking more and more economically sound.
Over 280 shows created using NotebookLM have already been detected by the tool.
They published a list of fake podcasts using NotebookLM.
Listen Notes founder warns of "mass-produce low-quality, fake content"
Proposal for a Podcasting 2.0 tag on generative AI disclosures
This initiative highlights the growing need for content verification in the age of AI.
The Listen Notes team had this to say after emailing back and forth with Google representatives:
After further emails with the NotebookLM team, it’s become evident that they are unable to provide tools or guidance to curb the spread of spammy, fake podcasts generated by NotebookLM. This is understandable, as they are typical 9-to-5 Google employees who enjoy a healthy work-life balance. NotebookLM remains an experimental project, and if it fails, the team members can easily transition to another project or team within Google, continuing their careers without significant disruption. There's little incentive for them to address issues that don't directly impact their performance reviews. Unfortunately, this leaves the podcasting industry vulnerable, but it's not a pressing concern for a handful of Googlers.
Instagram influencers are grappling with the growing presence of AI in their field, expressing a mix of concern and optimism about its potential impact on their work.
70% of influencers believe AI will have a significant impact on their industry
46% of influencers are already using AI tools in their work
Influencers express both excitement (41%) and concern (38%) about AI's effects
Many see AI as a tool to enhance creativity and efficiency rather than a threat.
