The pleasure round the London arrival of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was palpable from the queue that snaked its manner across the University College London constructing forward of his speech on Wednesday afternoon. Hundreds of eager-faced college students and admirers of OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT had come right here to look at the UK leg of Altman’s world tour, the place he expects to journey to round 17 cities. This week, he has already visited Paris and Warsaw. Last week he was in Lagos. Next, he’s on to Munich.

But the queue was soundtracked by a small group of people that had traveled to loudly specific their nervousness that AI is advancing too fast. “Sam Altman is willing to bet humanity on the hope of some sort of transhumanist utopia,” one protester shouted right into a megaphone. Ben, one other protester, who declined to share his surname in case it impacts his job prospects, was additionally frightened. “We’re particularly concerned about the development of future AI models which might be existentially dangerous for the human race.”

Speaking to a packed auditorium of near 1,000 individuals, Altman appeared unphased. Wearing a pointy blue swimsuit with inexperienced patterned socks, he talked in clipped solutions, all the time to the purpose. And his tone was optimistic, as he defined how he thinks AI may reinvigorate the financial system. “I’m excited that this technology can bring the missing productivity gains of the last few decades back,” he stated. But, whereas he didn’t point out the protests exterior, he did admit to issues over how generative AI may very well be used to unfold disinformation.

“Humans are already good at making disinformation, and maybe the GPT models make it easier. But that’s not the thing I’m afraid of,” he stated. “I think one thing that will be different [with AI] is the interactive, personalized, persuasive ability of these systems.”

Although OpenAI plans to construct in methods to make ChatGPT refuse to unfold disinformation, and plans to create monitoring techniques, he stated, will probably be tough to mitigate these impacts when the corporate releases open-source fashions to the general public—because it introduced a number of weeks in the past that it intends to do. “The OpenAI techniques of what we can do on our own systems won’t work the same.”

Despite that warning, Altman stated it is essential that synthetic intelligence not be overregulated whereas the know-how continues to be rising. The European Parliament is presently debating laws known as the AI Act, new guidelines that might form the way in which corporations can develop such fashions and would possibly create an AI workplace to supervise compliance. The UK, nonetheless, has determined to spread responsibility for AI between completely different regulators, together with these overlaying human rights, well being and security, and competitors, as an alternative of making a devoted oversight physique.

“I think it’s important to get the balance right here,” Altman stated, alluding to debates now going down amongst policymakers world wide about the right way to construct guidelines for AI that defend societies from potential hurt with out curbing innovation. “The right answer is probably something between the traditional European-UK approach and the traditional US approach,” Altman stated. “I hope we can all get it right together this time.”