Artificial intelligence represents many things to many people. For some, it’s a way to cope with physical work. For others, it is a tool to usurp artists and fire employees. For Nvidia, it represents a significant portion of its $5 trillion valuation. For Senator Bernie Sanders, a meteorite metaphor. Say it three times quick.
In a recent conversation with Axles (By Futurism), Sanders wonders about the potential downsides of such technology. He tells host Alex Thompson: “I worry… what a huge transformative impact artificial intelligence and robotics will have on our economy.”
When asked if he thinks OpenAI, the owner of ChatGPT, should be disbanded, he replies: “Yes, yes.” But he suggests there’s something deeper going on, and that AI in general is “like a meteor coming to this planet. We have to be prepared to deal with it in all its complexity.”
Just this week, OpenAI completed its restructuring into the for-profit entity that it is OpenAI website says “it gives us the ability to continually push the boundaries of artificial intelligence and an updated corporate structure to ensure that progress works for everyone.” It will be controlled by the nonprofit wing of OpenAI, although this will allow it to change its goals as a company and obtain additional funding.
This all means that despite its initial intention to be a non-profit organization, OpenAI’s goals have changed somewhat. At the time of writing, OpenAI’s market capitalization is estimated at $500 billion, which is one-tenth of Nvidia’s. Artificial intelligence is huge business with trillions of dollars at stake.
“The richest people in the world are investing huge amounts of money in artificial intelligence and robotics. And if you think they care about the needs of working-class people, you’re wrong,” Sanders says.
The Vermont senator doesn’t just point to the money involved in enormous companies dependent on the future of artificial intelligence; it also speaks to the impact it can have on culture and community. Referring to Friend AI Necklace“, he says with a lot of sarcasm, “You don’t have to interact with a human anymore, you’ll have someone around your neck as your AI buddy, right? That’s what I’m worried about. How will we continue the community, how we relate to each other as human beings.”
This is not the first time a politician has loudly criticized artificial intelligence and its future. In July he warned that it would displace millions of workers and that major companies could at least introduce a four-day week to pass on some of the productivity gains to those whose jobs might be at risk.
Let’s hope the meteor will be on its way and we’ll have at least Fridays off.
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