• OpenAI’s CTO Mira Murati believes that government regulators should be “very involved” in setting safety standards for advanced AI models such as ChatGPT.
• She also believes that a proposed six-month pause on development is not the right way to build safer systems, and that the industry is currently far from achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI).
• Notable figures including Elon Musk, Gary Marcus and Eliezer Yudkowski have called for a pause on global AI development, while others such as Bill Gates, Yann LeCun and Andrew Ng have opposed it.
OpenAI’s CTO on Government Regulation
Mira Murati, the chief technology officer at OpenAI recently spoke about government regulators, the “pause” letter and how close the company is to reaching artificial general intelligence. Murati believes that government regulators should be “very involved” in developing safety standards for the deployment of advanced artificial intelligence models such as ChatGPT.
The Proposed Six Month Pause
In response to concern over unknown-unknowns surrounding the future of AI many experts have called for interventions ranging from increased government regulation to a proposed six-month pause on global AI development. The suggestion has garnered attention and support from luminaries in the field of AI such as Elon Musk, Gary Marcus and Eliezer Yudkowski; however other notable figures including Bill Gates, Yann LeCun and Andrew Ng have come out in opposition.
Safety Precautions Taken Before GPT-4 Launch
When asked about the safety precautions OpenAI took before the launch of GPT-4, Murati explained that they took an incremental approach in training to both inhibit any unwanted behavior from machine but also locate any downstream concerns associated with model changes: “You have to be very careful because you might create some other imbalance. You have to constantly audit […] So then you have to adjust it again and be very careful about every time you make an intervention, seeing what else is being disrupted.”
Muraiti’s Stance On The Pause Proposal
Murati expressed her support for regulatory bodies taking a proactive role when it comes to research but stated that she does not believe a six month pause would create safer systems: “I definitely think there needs to be more oversight […] I do not think that this [six month] pause will necessarily lead us into more safe products.”
Conclusion
Overall Mira Murati believes that government regulation should play an important role in developing safety standards for advanced AI models; however she does not believe that a six month pause proposal would result in safer systems due its potential disruptions across multiple industries.