OpenAI’s CEO and cofounder, Sam Altman, recently said that new AI technology will have a net-positive impact on his infant son and potential future kids.
Altman, who announced the birth of his first child on February 22, said his kids will grow up to be more capable — but not more intelligent — because of tools like ChatGPT.
“My kids will never be smarter than AI,” Altman said on the first episode of the OpenAI Podcast, released on Wednesday. “They will grow up vastly more capable than we grew up, and able to do things that we cannot imagine, and they’ll be really good at using AI.”
Altman said he thinks more about what AI will provide the next generation than what it will take away.
“I don’t think my kids will ever be bothered by the fact that they’re not smarter than AI,” he added.
Shortly after, Altman reiterated that advancements in AI technology will likely yield problems for future societies and social systems, including an increased number of people who are dependent on these tools — but he believes the benefits will ultimately outweigh the drawbacks.
“Again, I suspect this is not all going to be good,” Altman told the podcast’s host, Andrew Mayne. “There will be problems. People will develop these somewhat problematic — or, maybe, very problematic — parasocial relationships, and, well, society will have to figure out new guardrails. But the upsides will be tremendous.”
Altman, who described himself in the episode as “extremely kid-pilled” (meaning he believes “everybody should have a lot of kids”), also said ChatGPT plays a major role in his parenting style. He said in the first few weeks of his son’s life, he was “constantly” asking the AI chatbot questions about how to provide basic care.
“Clearly, people have been able to take care of babies without ChatGPT for a long time,” Altman said. “I don’t know how I would have done that.”
However, later in the episode, Altman also acknowledged that ChatGPT is known to “hallucinate” — that is, provide false information — and despite this, many users have placed a surprising amount of trust in the chatbot.
“People have a very high degree of trust in ChatGPT, which is interesting, because AI hallucinates,” Altman said. “It should be the tech that you don’t trust that much.”
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