Artificial intelligence: ChatGPT turns one year old – 11/30/2023 – Tech

On November 30, 2022, the world learned about the possibilities offered by ChatGPT, a kind of revenge for the “geeks”, those researchers and engineers who discreetly and behind the scenes build generative artificial intelligence.

A year after the tool’s launch, the artificial intelligence revolution is underway, but the recent crisis at the tool’s creator, OpenAI, has made it clear that it is the technology giants who are driving the action.

As users discovered the ability to generate poems or recipes in a matter of seconds, ChatGPT became the fastest adopted app in history, before being surpassed by Threads, the social network launched by Meta in response to X (formerly Twitter ).

This is largely due to Sam Altman, OpenAI’s number one at 38 and previously little known outside the world of technology. This former Stanford University student — who abandoned his studies before obtaining his degree — became a kind of great AI sage, consulted by authorities around the world.

With AI, “the work consists of manufacturing and selling things that cannot be touched”, analyzes American historian Margaret O’Mara, author of “The Code”, a book that talks about Silicon Valley. “Having a figure who can explain this, especially when it’s cutting-edge technology, is really important.”

‘Religious fundamentalism’

Altman’s devotion to AI seemed, at times, almost religious. OpenAI supporters believe that the world will be a safer place if they have the freedom (and resources) to establish artificial general intelligence, which would have the same learning capabilities as the human brain.

But this mission comes at a cost: OpenAI had to team up with Microsoft, which committed to investing US$13 billion in the project.

To justify the investment, Altman refocused OpenAI toward profit, which ultimately led to a recent conflict with the board, convinced it was better to keep financial powerhouses at bay.

There is a “religious fundamentalism at play here”, summarized investor Dave Morin in a podcast for the specialized website The Information.

Suddenly fired as CEO of OpenAI, Altman was reinstated to the role five days later. Microsoft reached out to him, and OpenAI employees supported him by threatening a collective dismissal, considering that their company’s commercial future was more important than philosophical discussions about how artificial intelligence should be used.

This question about the benefits and dangers of AI is constant.

Elon Musk, founder of Tesla, SpaceX and owner of X, signed a letter asking for a pause in AI-related innovation before creating his own company in the sector, xAI, in an increasingly competitive market.

Google, Meta and Amazon promised to include AI in their products and invested in specialized startups. Across industries, companies are starting to experiment with this technology. “It’s about spreading the benefits of AI to everyone,” Microsoft President Satya Nadella said this month.

But integration efforts are still cautious, due to fears that bots will produce false, absurd or offensive content.

The explosion of AI raises fears ranging from the extinction of humanity to the mass suppression of jobs, including enormous misinformation.

The triumph of the capitalists

Whatever the future of AI holds, it will be built with tech giants on board. The giant co-founded by Bill Gates could get a seat on OpenAI’s board after the recent crisis.

“We are witnessing a new battle in Silicon Valley between the idealists and the capitalists, and the capitalists have won,” said historian Margaret O’Mara.

The next chapter for AI will also be written in partnership with Nvidia, maker of a key ingredient in this “technological recipe”: the graphics processing unit (GPU), a powerful chip indispensable for training generative artificial intelligence.

Tech giants, startups or researchers, they all need these expensive and scarce Taiwan-made components. There too, Microsoft, Amazon or Google are at the forefront.