Today, I want to talk about something that's been on my mind a lot lately: the current situation with OpenAI, Sam Altman, and the potential dangers of AI. This is a crucial topic, especially after my videos on Google Privacy and real threats of Meta AI, which you can check out in these links or read in the Marketing Right Side Up archive. So, let’s dive in.

By the way, if you missed it, Meta AI was supposed to launch in EU/UK on June 26th, but due to EU pressure, Meta delayed the launch! You can read it in the previous article.

My name’s Mark Valasik and this is the #008 edition of Marketing Right Side Up (or MKTRSU) newsletter (and also Youtube channel, and daily marketing memes on TikTok and Instagram). 

This is the place where I offer you the fruits of my rabbit-hole digging into the (mostly) marketing topic of the week.

And if you hate written text and enjoy european English, you can get the same informational value out of my most recent video here:

And last but not least, the beautiful weekly AirTable of Social Media One Liners for the 3rd week of June is here as well:

OpenAI's Profit-Driven Path: A Threat to Humanity?

The Ilya Sutskever Coup and Internal Turmoil

Recently, OpenAI has been facing significant internal conflicts. There was an internal coup where Sam Altman, the CEO, first ended up fired after his board members (mainly the head scientist, Ilya Sutskever, who revealed a new Safe AI project) were concerned about the rapid and unchecked development of OpenAI's technologies like GPT and very apparent profit craze. Scientists and employees inside OpenAI feared that the company was prioritizing being the first to revolution and maximizing profits over the safety of humanity. This led to a situation where eventually Altman got rehired, Microsoft got even stronger stake in the board, coup organizers either left or were sacked, and a few others left in protest. Those who voiced their concerns to Sam Altman received non-specific, neutral responses, followed by absolutely no action, reflecting a troubling leadership style.

Scarlett Johansson and ChatGPT Drama

Adding to the controversy, there was an incident involving Scarlett Johansson’s reportedly stolen voice being used in ChatGPT. The likeness of her voice was allegedly replicated without her permission, leading to a public outcry. Sam Altman’s responses to these allegations were dodgy and not super convincing, and there are even talks of potential court actions to resolve it in full transparency (issued by ScarJo, of course). 

I mean, he can claim the “Sky” voice had a voice actress before he reached out to ScarJo, but his “cryptic” tweet containing just the word “Her” the day before they unveiled the newest Chat GPT model (the source of the controversy) does NOT help his case. This incident further tainted the image of OpenAI and raised questions about the ethical practices within the company and most importantly, the question if Sam Altman really did understand the message behind the movie he referenced.

A Former Employee's Dire Warning

A new interview with a former OpenAI employee (with for Slavic languages rather unfortunate name; Daniel Kokotajlo) highlighted even more alarming concerns. Daniel, as a former OpenAI scientist, estimated that there is a 70% chance that general artificial intelligence could seriously harm humanity or even destroy it. This stark warning is particularly concerning given that many who advocated for the safe development of AI have now left OpenAI. As the article later claims: “The world isn’t ready and we aren’t ready.”

Microsoft's Influence and the Shift Towards Profit

OpenAI's trajectory has been heavily influenced by its major backer, Microsoft. Initially established as a non-profit organization, OpenAI is now considering transitioning to a for-profit model. Microsoft, a for-profit giant, is pushing OpenAI towards profitability, potentially at the expense of ethical considerations and the well-being of humankind. Well, profit and “being the first at it” which is never a good thing.

The Future: A Grim Outlook?

Given these developments, the future of AI seems fraught with peril. The internal turmoil at OpenAI, combined with external pressures for profitability, paints a grim picture. The voices of caution and concern are being silenced or ignored, and the relentless drive for profit may lead us down a dangerous path.

Join the Discussion

Does anyone else see a happy ending for us in this scenario? I’m certainly skeptical. Please share your thoughts and concerns in the comments below. Let's have an open discussion about the future of AI and its implications for humanity.

Cheers,

Mark.

P.S.: If you got this far, the next article will be a data-heavy one - about my first 2 months of active content creation (Youtube, TikTok, Instagram + Newsletter) so stay tuned for that!

The week after that we will be talking about “Why businesses can’t grow on Instagram anymore”

If you have any questions or additions or topic requests, please do reach out!