Sam Altman responds to claims OpenAI is building AI 'creatures'

Sam Altman has sat down for an interview where he debunked a lot of viral theories regarding what OpenAI is working on behind the scenes.

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In a new interview with The Advocate, the OpenAI touched on what he believes to be the biggest example of egregious theories circulating around the internet regarding what OpenAI is working on. According to the CEO, the biggest theory or "misconception" about AI is that AI is "creatures" and not tools. Altman says that AI being "creatures" is better for a movie plot, but in reality, that's hardly the case as individuals who use AI-powered services such as ChatGPT should immediately realize that ChatGPT is a "tool".

The CEO of the company shaking up the technology industry goes on to say that this a "popular misconception" that can be attributed to popular sci-fi media, and for people who have been using AI-powered tools for quite some time, it would appear obvious that it's a tool. Despite Altman's assurance that what OpenAI is building is designed to be a tool for humans, there is an undisputable "feel" to services that is somewhat creature-like, especially in the sense of its communication abilities and overall potential across multiple industries.

"The biggest misconception about AI I think is there's confusion about whether AI is thought of as a tool or a creature. It's a better movie plot if it's a creature in a sci-fi movie, for example. If you use ChatGPT, it's clearly a tool.

There's still risks with tools, of course, but they're of a different shape and a different kind of profile. And I think the popular misconception of AI as sci-fi is very, very different from people who have been using it as a tool for a long time.

And by the way, I think it's great that what we're building is like a tool, because if you give humans better tools, they do these amazing things to surprise you on the upside and that builds all this new value for all of us," responded Altman