On June 5th 2023, Sam Altman has visited Tel Aviv University as part of a worldwide artificial intelligence themed tour to meet with AI users, developers and decision makers.
At Tel Aviv University, Altman and Ilya Sutskever (Israeli-Canadian computer scientist), the creators behind ChatGPT – the viral chatbot released November 2022 that mimics human writing – held a fireside chat which was hosted by Dr. Nadav Cohen from TAU’s School of Computer Science.
During the event, the two answered questions from Nadav and the audience. Altman and Sutskever were asked about the possible risks of using AI technology in three topics: economic dislocation; the potential for malicious use, such as by hackers; and a case in which the AI gets out of its creators’ control. About the extreme scenario, Sutskever replied, “Yeah, that’d be pretty bad. It would be a big mistake to build a superintelligence AI that you don’t know how to control.”
Regarding economic dislocation due to AI, Sutskever said, “There are jobs that have been impacted or affected. Some chunks of the job can be done [by AI], and whole new jobs will be created – it’s going to be a long period of economic uncertainty. There’s an argument to be made that even when we have human-level AI there’ll be things for workers to do.”
In response to the inquiry about the potential for AI development and its applications in Israel, Altman answered “There are two things I have observed that are particular about Israel: the first is talent density and the second is the relentlessness, drive, and ambition of Israeli entrepreneurs”.
You can watch the full Interview with Altman and Sutskever at Tel Aviv University at the video below, and read the full coverage by Ynet.