ChatGPT Boss: AI is Getting Smarter, but the Dangers are Also Increasing

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has issued a serious warning to US policymakers. He has urged the government to promptly prepare concrete steps to confront the era of advanced AI, often referred to as superintelligence. According to Altman, AI is no longer merely a future concept or a laboratory experiment. This technology is advancing rapidly and is beginning to become one of the main drivers of the daily economy. Therefore, the United States needs to prepare for two major consequences of this development: enormous economic opportunities, as well as risks that could lead to disaster. Altman explained that highly intelligent AI systems are already capable of taking over jobs such as programming and research, which previously required a full team. He also assessed that next-generation AI models will bring far greater changes. In his view, AI has the potential to help scientists produce important discoveries and enable one person to accomplish work that typically requires many hands. In the long term, Altman predicts that AI will become a basic necessity, similar to electricity. Eventually, people will have super-advanced personal assistants running through cloud services. Altman also described that AI usage will likely follow a flexible subscription system. The higher the level of AI intelligence used or the more intensive its application, the greater the monthly cost that must be paid. For Altman, the development of superintelligence is not only about technological innovation but also geopolitical competition. He emphasised the importance for the United States to lead first in developing this technology before being surpassed by rival countries. Nevertheless, Altman disagrees with the idea of the government fully taking over AI projects. He believes that an approach like nationalisation risks failure if implemented as a state project. Instead, he encourages a model of collaboration between the US government and private companies developing AI. Behind these great benefits, Altman also reminded of serious threats. One risk he highlighted is the misuse of AI to accelerate dangerous biological experiments. He stated that the world is now increasingly close to a situation where open-source AI models have very high capabilities in the field of biology.