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Nov 22, 2023Liked by Gary Marcus

Not only Sam and Greg leave the board of OpenAI Inc. (the parent — it was weird that they had those seats as that made them their own employer in a way) but also all the others except one. It seems like a compromise where Sam en Greg return to OpenAI LLC, the whole OpenAI Inc board is made more independent (and is largely replaced) and everyone is off to a restart. And there is that rumour of an investigation. In the end, it is not very relevant what happens there, as all involved seem to think they are working on safe AGI, where both ‘safe’ and (certainly) ‘AGI’ are mirages.

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I knew it wouldn't be the end of the story with your last post :)

Do these people ever sleep?

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The problem of a system where money always wins over principles is that we take the route of least resistance. That is not always optimal for humanity to flourish.

The founders of OpenAI tried to put checks on this short term thinking by the innovative organization and governance.

Our greatest drivers are fear, uncertainty and short term survival. These drivers impede our ability for compassion and long term thinking. When money wins we are more likely to follow this self destructive path.

AI will probably increase inequality because only those who already have the power, will be those in charge of the development and they will not give away their hegemony without a fight.

Maybe what we have seen at OpenAI is the symptoms of such a struggle where humans are not masters of money but rather its slave?

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Nov 23, 2023·edited Nov 23, 2023

What do you make of this, Gary? I'm no AI expert. When I read it I couldn't stop laughing because it seems so cartoonishly absurd. How did this ever make it into Reuters? https://www.reuters.com/technology/sam-altmans-ouster-openai-was-precipitated-by-letter-board-about-ai-breakthrough-2023-11-22/

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Damn. I was looking forward to reading about Microsoft employee Sam Altman's interactions with corporate partner OpenAI.

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