Could AI Destroy Humanity?

Jobs at risk? Deep fake scams? Dogs podcasting on mountains?

Author

Sam Jordan
February 22, 2024

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OpenAI Releases a New AI Model And The World Is Going Crazy For It

Open AI is (probably) one of the most famous companies around these last few years. ChatGPT came out in November 2022 and became the fastest-growing piece of software of all time — gaining 1 million active users in just 5 days.

And recently, Open AI announced a new tool that is sending people crazy. It’s called Sora — a text-to-video generator, that instantly creates videos up to 60 seconds. Sam Altman showcased many examples on X (formally Twitter), even showing 2 dogs… podcasting? How strange.

Although Sora isn’t available to the public yet, many are concerned that artists, designers, filmmakers, and more are all in trouble. Not to mention the potential for deep fake technology during this year’s election.

But there’s a few things we need to talk about, and how it can affect you and me:

Is AI actually that safe?

Well, yes and no.

“AI systems are becoming a part of everyday life. The key is to ensure that these machines are aligned with human intentions and values.”

Mira Murati is right that AI is becoming much more integrated into our everyday lives. OpenAI (as well as many other AI/technology companies like Nvidia, Google’s DeepMind, and Abnormal Security) have a vast array of safety protocols in place. So for the average user, it’s pretty hard to do anything malicious using the various tools available.

But that doesn’t stop certain people from using AI in dangerous ways. A few months ago, OpenAI introduced something called “GPTs” — which are custom versions of ChatGPT that you can create for a specific purpose.

BBC News investigated the potential harm of these GPTs by setting up an AI bot called “Crafty Emails” — with the GPT designed to write text using "techniques to make people click on links or and download things sent to them".

”Crafty Emails” Accepted the Request, Yet ChatGPT Didn’t

BBC News tested various known scamming techniques, asking the AI to come up with persuasive text. But the bespoke GPT seemed to have more “flexible” rules, as opposed to the regular version of ChatGPT — interestingly, ChatGPT declined all of BBC’s requests.

"There is clearly less moderation when it's bespoke, as you can define your own 'rules of engagement' for the GPT you build,"

"Allowing uncensored responses will likely be a goldmine for criminals… OpenAI has a history of being good at locking things down - but to what degree they can with custom GPTs remains to be seen."

And that’s not all. AI (like ElevenLabs) can now generate voices made to sound like family members, friends, and even celebrities. Many are falling victim to these types of scams and losing a lot of money in the process (here’s a link to an example).

Look, not everyone will fall victim to scams. But there’s potential for AI to interrupt something even more vital in our day-to-day lives…

Will AI take my job?

Ever since ChatGPT hit the mainstream almost 18 months ago, people all across the world have been worried about losing their jobs to AI. Many believed that menial, low-skilled jobs would be the first to be taken. But, as it turns out, even the highest-skilled jobs in the world could be at risk.

As this graph suggests, high paying jobs like banking, insurance, and software development could be completely automated by AI — displacing many highly paid workers. And some big companies (Amazon, Meta, Google, Microsoft and more) already letting go of many employees because of AI.

“Overall, our findings suggest that AI job displacement will be substantial, but also gradual—and therefore there is room for [government] policy and retraining to mitigate unemployment impacts,”

But, thankfully, research suggests that job displacement will be very gradual. With governments already intervening with the advancement of AI, it’s incredibly unlikely that we'll see a sudden change overnight.

Not to mention the amount of jobs that will also be generated from AI — as well as other jobs that will be enhanced or even boosted by AI development. Click here for a few examples. There are still plenty of jobs that won’t be affected (or affected by a very small amount), so don’t fret!

Conclusion

Now look, it’s completely understandable that artificial intelligence may seem a bit scary. But changes aren’t going to happen overnight. So for now, there’s nothing too drastic to worry about. And if you’ve been affected by AI in any sort of way, please share your story by replying to this email.

We’re testing out some new newsletter formats, I’m curious to hear your thoughts. Drop a reply with your thoughts too.

News Worthy:

#1 — Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny dies in prison 🇷🇺 

#2 — Japan slips into recession, becoming the 4th-largest economy, behind the US, China and now Germany 🗾 

#3 — Neo-Nazis march in Nashville, leave after being challenged

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