Elon Musk’s Battle Against Open AI: Will It Stop the AI race?
Is Chat GPT relevant to our lives?
Recently, one well-known tech entrepreneur sounded the alarm about one of the biggest things to hit the Internet: Chat GPT.
He’s of course, the inventor genius, Elon Musk, the maverick who brought the world the popular electric car, SpaceX as well as X, formerly known as Twitter.
Why should we be worried? Isn’t technology supposed to make life easier? Some may argue that Chat GPT is the next best thing besides the invention of the laptop. Who can argue that using Chat GPT to bring up information, correct grammar, write newsletters, teach code to newbies, and hundreds of other things, has changed the lives of marketing companies and made doing research so much quicker and easier?
Still, others have pointed out that this AI tool is like playing with dynamite and one can quickly see why that’s the case. Consider the fact that dubious users can misuse the information and create fake news stories so rapidly. This coupled with the selling of popular items like Cryptocurrency and other stocks, can lead people to be defrauded by fake news ads purporting to show the effectiveness of the products. And what about students? Quite likely many students have used GPT to write their essays and submit them for a real grade. Consider Medium itself. Just how many stories have been generated by AI? Countless, and too numerous to count.
One need only pick up the latest news story to hear about victims all across the globe, defrauded by romance scams, fake calls, fake jobs, fake news, and ads fronted by AI-created celebrities, and the list of scams goes on and on. Scammers can easily create convincing dialogue as well as a likeable profile just by asking Chat GPT some prompts.
When I worked in the call centre I was shocked to learn that so many customers received calls purporting to come from legitimate companies, but were fronted by large-scale criminals.
I quickly learned that the newest game in town was called number spoofing. This happens when an individual changes the caller ID to make it appear like it is coming from somewhere else like a bank or government agency. For the elderly or people who are not familiar with unscrupulous tactics, these number spoofing tactics have cost them thousands of dollars, or even their life savings.
For all the hype that Chat GPT is supposed to be accurate, consider this latest report. Researchers were able to generate a fake clinical trial to support an unsupported scientific claim.
Another story that created big news in the city where I live involves a lawyer who used Chat GPT to prepare legal briefs for a court case. The only problem is that the court cases she cited and created by Chat GPT did not exist.
Enter Elon Musk.
Last month, Elon was angry enough to sue Chat GPT maker Open AI and its CEO Sam Altman, saying that the original mission was for Chat GPT to benefit humanity, rather than for profit.
He is seeking a court ruling to make Open AI’s research and technology available to the public, and stop its assets, including its latest incarnation AI model GPT 4 from getting any financial gain from the likes of Microsoft or any other individual.
But with the cat out of the bag, does it matter anymore?
Competition in the industry has led to what one analyst calls an AI arms race. What that in mind, more than 350 top executives and researchers have signed a statement urging policymakers to see the risks associated with unregulated AI, and indicating that the future of humanity could be at stake.
Some of the dangers that have been highlighted include the privacy violations misinformation campaigns as well as smart machines “thinking for themselves.
Is truth stranger than fiction or should we regulate AI for our benefit?
Definitely. In my book, things could go out of hand and does one want an AI-generated robot President running the country?
What are your thoughts and if things are getting out of hand, what should we, as citizens do?
In a nutshell, it’s easy to sit back and watch while others take action. I believe that we should remain educated, be vigilant about potential abuses, and report signs that AI is being misused to sell items to unsuspecting victims. We need to think and read critically more than ever now.
If you have ever taken a critical analysis course in high school or university, it’s going to come in handy now.
That’s all today.
That’s all today. Hope you enjoyed this.
Already on Medium? Don’t miss any of my stories, and if you are on Medium, subscribe to me via email here to get my latest articles. Please also show your support and follow me, too and this publication.
Check out my latest stories: