The CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, has made a dystopian claim that artificial intelligence could one day be sold to consumers just like gas, electricity and water is.
The tech mogul believes that AI will become so important to the everyday life of the public, that they will pay for it just like any other utility bill.
OpenAI is the firm behind ChatGPT, which is currently available for free, with users having the option to upgrade to the Plus plan.
This comes with ‘enhanced access’ to the company’s more advanced AI models among other features for the price of $20 a month.
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However, if users don’t want to cough up the cost of this service, they can use the free version which comes with web browsing, data analysis, and image generation, although it does have usage limits and lower priority during peak times.
But it seems like Altman has hopes for a future where a majority of people will happily pay the cost of a monthly AI subscription as he spoke on the matter at the BlackRock Infrastructure Summit in Washington DC earlier this month.
He explained: “Fundamentally, our business and I think the business of every other model provider is going to look like selling tokens.
“We see a future where intelligence is a utility like electricity or water and people buy it from us on a meter and use it for whatever they want to use it for.”
These statements have prompted many people to take to social media to share their own reactions, with one user writing on Reddit: “Why would I do that when I can have an open source model which is just as good running locally? Won't be long before that is possible at scale. These people are so screwed -- rather they will be fine and we will be screwed when this thing pops and the government bails them out and socializes all the losses onto us.”
Another said: “Computers get better over time, more powerful, at the same time AI models are getting more efficient and slim doing better tasks. While big AI companies think everyone will buy their plans… for many local hosting will be a reality.”
A third person commented: “We're entering Sam Altman's villain arc now.”
And a fourth added: “I see a bright future for people who have chosen to not use AI or use AI sustainably to aid their careers and hobbies. I do not see a bright future for AI companies who sold us lies in hope of profit.”