In an article for The Atlantic, David Karpf critiques Sam Altman’s optimistic views on AI, particularly following OpenAI’s recent funding announcement, which values the company at $157 billion despite its significant financial losses. Altman’s manifesto, “The Intelligence Age,” predicts transformative advancements through AI, including solving climate issues and achieving superintelligence.
However, the author argues that such promises echo Silicon Valley’s history of inflated expectations, where technological breakthroughs often fall short. Current AI products like ChatGPT and DALL-E, once seen as revolutionary, now appear less impressive over time and continue to exhibit flaws, such as hallucination and generating low-quality content.
The piece highlights skepticism from scientists regarding Altman’s claims about achieving artificial general intelligence and suggests that his focus on an idealized future distracts from the present challenges posed by AI. Altman’s entrepreneurial success is noted as being more about connecting startups with investors than technical innovation.
Karpf calls for a critical evaluation of AI based on its actual impacts rather than potential benefits. Ultimately, the piece advocates for a more grounded understanding of AI’s current capabilities and consequences.