OpenAI CEO, visiting Nigeria, expresses concerns over AI impact
By Alexander Chiejina
Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly changing the world in ways that were previously unimaginable. Self-driving cars, voice assistants, and smart home technologies are just a few examples of how AI is now pervasive in our daily lives. AI fosters innovation and opens up new possibilities, including boosting efficiency and productivity.
From manufacturing to healthcare, AI-powered automation is revolutionising work responsibilities. It allows individuals and organisations to reimagine how information is reintegrated, data is processed, and how to use the ensuing insights to better decision-making. The potential of AI, however, goes far beyond these consumer-oriented applications; it has the potential to completely reshape entire economic sectors and change the way we live, work, and connect with one another.
Concern over AI’s possible effects on society is growing as the technology develops. Other worries about AI include the ethical and social conundrums it raises; the economic and labour disruptions it causes; the legal and regulatory issues it raises; the security and safety dangers it poses by opening up new attack vectors; the vulnerabilities and dependencies it creates; and the increased complexity and uncertainty it brings. In particular, in areas like privacy, ethics, and safety, this has prompted calls for regulation and control of AI development.
Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI and creator of the consumer-facing artificial intelligence application ChatGPT, shared his thoughts on how technology had the potential to fundamentally alter civilization.
Speaking at a recent gathering of the tech community in Lagos, Altman stressed the necessity for society to be active with technology in order to prevent any potential bad effects on mankind. While worries about consumer-facing AI and AI in general centre on people being replaced by computers, Altman emphasised that AI can only function with human direction or input.
“Human control over this tool is very strong. There will be those who disregard some of the safety restrictions we impose. I believe society has a finite amount of time to determine how to respond to, control, and manage it,” Altman explained.
He highlighted the outstanding language model developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT, as well as the conversational skills and quick learning and adaptation capabilities of the system. An important step was reached when OpenAI decided to release ChatGPT to the general public in November 2022, allowing users all over the world to make use of its cutting-edge capabilities and provide replies in a more conversational and engaging way.
The creation and application of AI technology, according to Oladipupo Bolaji, senior programme manager at Microsoft, involves responsibility to avoid unfavourable results but has the potential to be advantageous to society if managed properly.
The future of artificial intelligence rests on the combined strength and ingenuity of mankind, which has the potential to be both thrilling and dangerous. OpenAI’s chatbot technology is attracting people’s attention and has the ability to assist people in numerous activities.
“Technology is a tool for humans, and while employment may change, human inventiveness will create new opportunities and jobs. However, we must be mindful about safety regulations and boundaries. Although language models are reasoning tools rather than fact databases, they have the capacity to add to the truth in the world even though they also carry the risk of eliminating jobs,” Bolaji said.
Despite the fact that some jobs may change or even disappear, Bolaji continued, “technology should be a tool for humans. Human demand for new things and creativity is limitless, leading to new jobs and opportunities that we cannot even imagine today.”
When creating AI, it’s important to be aware of the drawbacks as well as the benefits that could ultimately help society even if present employment is eliminated. The business has been working for seven months to solve safety issues and develop societal guardrails in conjunction with experts. The future of humanity depends on getting AI technology right and controlling its hazards, yet new organisations and political bodies are rising to measure and regulate it.
The OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s trip to Nigeria serves as a catalyst for piqued interest, promoting innovation, and developing collaborations within the thriving tech community as the world embraces the revolutionary potential of AI.
Altman and OpenAI are advancing this cutting-edge technology into a bright future by exchanging knowledge, interacting with stakeholders, and promoting ethical AI practices.
Levering Artificial Intelligence across industries
Chatbots – Artificial intelligence (AI)-driven chatbots are used to respond to customer support enquiries, freeing up human personnel to concentrate on more difficult jobs.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) – RPA is used to automate boring and repetitive operations including data entry, report preparation, and invoice processing.
Predictive analytics – Tools powered by AI are being used to analyse massive volumes of data and find trends, allowing businesses to make better decisions.
Cybersecurity – AI is being utilised in cybersecurity to analyse network data, find possible dangers, and detect and stop cyberattacks.
Healthcare – AI-powered systems are being used to analyse patient data and medical pictures to help doctors diagnose patients more accurately. AI is being utilised more and more in healthcare to increase patient outcomes and to better diagnose and treat patients. One area where AI is having a big influence is precision medicine, which adapts medical care to a patient’s unique traits.
Virtual Learning Assistants – AI-powered virtual learning assistants can be utilised to support and advise students on their coursework, which will increase their engagement and retention.
Ethical concerns – Deepfakes in the media, bias in AI employment, and autonomous weaponry are some ethical issues.
Legal concerns – Liability, IP ownership, and the application of current laws to AI are all legal considerations.
Privacy concerns -Data harvesting without consent, facial recognition, and cyberattacks are privacy problems.
Regulation and policy — Governments that are adopting AI laws and regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), include clauses that control the application of AI systems and safeguard individuals’ right to privacy.