Decades are happening in weeks in the world of artificial intelligence. A fortnight ago, OpenAI released GPT-4, the latest model of its chatbot. It passed the bar exam in the 90th percentile, whereas the previous model only managed the tenth. Last week, Google introduced its own chatbot, Bard. Now, the British government is announcing plans to regulate AI for the first time, as well as to introduce it into hospitals and schools. Even some of the biggest technophobes are having to grasp this brave new world.
We’re familiar with some of the technology by now, but we know little about the humans in the world of AI. From Steve Jobs to Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, the previous generation of techies were household names, so well known that they were depicted by everyone from Harry Enfield to Jesse Eisenberg. But the chatbots seem to have come from the ether. Who makes them? Who willed them into existence? And who wants to stop them?
Sam Altman is the king in this world.
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