Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

sweetmorty t1_j6ittn1 wrote

Reply to comment by quantumfucker in OpenAI executives say releasing ChatGPT for public use was a last resort after running into multiple hurdles — and they're shocked by its popularity by steviaplath153

It's not about getting paid to test AI technology. It's about OpenAI not being as transparent with their motives as their company name suggests and luring in free beta testers to improve their next premium ChatGPT version for Microsoft and any other corporate clients, with lucrative deals worth billions.

My impression about OpenAI was that it was some sort of academic AI think tank. Not a corporate R&D center in disguise.

7

zdakat t1_j6iwf12 wrote

They try way too hard with the "guys we're the good guys! We're doing everything to hold back a world-ending AI (that we invented, but ignore that)"
They try to present themselves as the heroes of situations they made up, and have no qualms about selling things they've hyped up as being essentially super weapons. They just use the delay for publicity and to make customers excited.

I know marketing is a thing, but you don't see Coca-Cola (for example) going "Alright guys, since you asked so much we decided to release that deadly drink we talked about 2 months ago. But don't say we didn't warn you! Besides our next drink is even worse, and we're doing everything we can to keep it in the lab"

4

quantumfucker t1_j6lptym wrote

Not to sound harsh, but I think that’s on you. OpenAI began as a nonprofit, funded by extremely wealthy entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, and then transitioned to having a for-profit arm in 2019. The fact that Microsoft and others are investing in them has been very open and public knowledge. They have already been criticized for that pivot for years.

So, how did they fail to be transparent? Don’t they literally give you a disclaimer that your responses will be used to improve it? Sorry, I don’t see how they “lured” anyone into anything.

Also, it’s extremely common for private companies to fund academic studies and institutions due to the high costs of running these labs and the potential for mutually beneficial partnerships. This also shouldn’t be surprising.

1