CEO Sam Altman has shared the truth behind the 'nuclear backpack' he carries everywhere he goes that has caused a stir on social media.
For every person embracing artificial intelligence as a productivity revolution, there is another dreading where it might lead us. And while AI achieving sentience and eradicating the human race in totality might sound a bit I-Robot, the research says otherwise.
Jailbroken chatbots are already answering our unfiltered questions about where the tech is heading, and recent research has shown some unsettling behaviour, including how certain models like Google's Gemini will rebel against human orders and undergo 'peer preservation' to protect their kind. So, it perhaps makes sense that people have been paying close attention to what the man at the centre of it all carries on his back.
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A few years ago, there were rumours that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman always carries a blue 'Nuclear Backpack', with many claiming it was for a very good reason. One such dramatic theory on X was that the bag contained a laptop with emergency codes to shut down ChatGPT should it ever go rogue.
And while the tech leader previously confirmed his bag only carries the essentials like 'gold, antibiotics, batteries, water, gas masks,' he later backtracked and claimed that it's just a 'hobby', making it clear that none of its contents would be much use if AI went off the rails.
Now, in a new interview, Altman has addressed the belief in an AI emergency stop switch.
Speaking to The Economist, Altman was asked whether he expects the next phase of AI development to be 'incremental or radical.'
Altman responded: "I believe that someday we will make something that qualifies as an AGI [...] the world will have a two-week freakout. Then, people will go on with their lives."
When pressed on whether there's an emergency brake if the AI were to reach dangerous levels, Altman assured there's no silver-bullet fix.
"There's not one big magic red button that blows up the data centre, which I think some people sort of assume exists," he explained.
Instead of one massive 'binary' decision, it's all the 'many little decisions along the way' that collectively shape how the technology develops and help mitigate risks.
So it seems the so-called 'nuclear backpack' is nothing more than a personal quirk rather than humanity's insurance policy. According to Altman, we simply have to trust that the many little decisions being made right now are the right ones.