Don't treat AI like a god, says Sam Altman
What's the story
Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, has expressed his discomfort with the idea of treating artificial intelligence (AI) as a divine entity. In a recent post on X, he said that people who attribute religious significance or relinquish human judgment to AI models pose a safety risk. "I am very uncomfortable about people trying to ascribe religious force or a surrender of human judgment to AI models," Altman wrote.
Aftermath
Altman's post follows David Robinson's resignation
Altman's comments come in the wake of one of OpenAI's safety leaders David Robinson resigning and publicly criticizing the company's safety record and efforts.
The timing of Altman's post also coincides with a New York Times article about Anthropic, a rival AI company, holding secret meetings with religious leaders.
These talks reportedly revolved around whether their AI model, Claude, had achieved consciousness and how to instill morality into advanced autonomous systems.
Debate
Anthropic co-founder held secret meetings
The New York Times revealed that Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah had several clandestine meetings with religious leaders over their AI models.
The discussions were mainly about whether Claude might be conscious and how to make increasingly powerful and autonomous AI models moral.
"How do you help them be stable? How do you help them to mature? How do you help them be, you know, deeply moral?" he told the Times.
Industry trend
Other tech giants also met with top religious leaders
Tech giants like Meta, Google, and Amazon have also engaged top religious leaders on AI.
In April, representatives from these companies met in Rome to discuss protecting children in the age of AI.
They even briefly met Pope Leo XIV, who has warned against over-reliance on machines since taking over as head of the Catholic Church last year.
Ethical considerations
What did Pope Leo XIV say?
Pope Leo XIV has emphasized the need for education in ethical discernment and the ability to recognize moral good.
"If we are to avoid losing our humanity amid a 'paradise of machines' invading and conditioning our daily lives, there is an urgent need for education in ethical discernment and the capacity to acknowledge the moral good," he said in an address to diplomats last month.