OpenAI and other tech companies aim to reduce AI risks for society

OpenAI and other tech companies have signed an open letter on the collective responsibility to “maximize the benefits of artificial intelligence and reduce the risks to society”, reports Bloomberg.

The document was initiated by venture capitalist Ron Conway and his firm SV Angel. The letter is a new attempt by the tech industry to call for a responsible approach to AI.

In his post on the X platform, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he was “excited for the spirit of this letter.” He believes that progress in the field of AI “will be one of the biggest factors in improving people’s quality of life.”

“…we need to build it and make it widely available,” added Sam Altman.

In the letter, SV Angel compared AI to other innovations such as the printing press, the internal combustion engine, electricity, and the Internet.

“The balance of its good and bad impacts on humans will be shaped through the actions and thoughtfulness we as humans exercise”, the letter says. “It is our collective responsibility to make choices that maximize AI’s benefits and mitigate the risks, for today and for future generations”.

However, the letter does not list specific actions to do so. The document was signed by Salesforce, Hugging Face, Scale AI, and dozens of other startups and tech companies.

In the year since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, many industry representatives have simultaneously defended the benefits of the technology and raised the alarm about its significant risks.

Last fall, OpenAI announced the creation of a new team that will study artificial intelligence models to protect against what it calls “catastrophic risks.”