Altman says society should accept some AI harms for technology’s benefits
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman says society should tolerate some harm from artificial intelligence because he expects people to use the technology to do far
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman says society should tolerate some harm from artificial intelligence because he expects people to use the technology to do far more good. The tradeoff, aired on Politico’s Decoded podcast released Monday, sharpens a debate over whether AI companies should move quickly or face stricter safeguards.
Altman cited hacks, scams and other harmful outcomes as risks people should expect, arguing that AI’s benefits would outweigh them. He did not specify what those benefits would be. He framed the position as a point of difference between OpenAI and companies that favor tighter safety measures, including Anthropic, founded by former OpenAI employees after disagreements over AI safety.
Pushback over who accepts the risks
The remarks drew criticism from across the political spectrum. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, objected to technology executives making that judgment on behalf of the public. New York University professor and AI critic Gary Marcus accused Altman of asking people to bear the costs while companies gain wealth and influence. Former diplomat Patrick Gaspard also condemned the comments.
Altman’s argument centers on tradeoffs: no technology is entirely safe, and slowing AI development could also carry costs. But critics say that does not settle who should decide which harms are acceptable, or who bears them.
Safety concerns meet calls for lighter rules
The comments come as OpenAI pushes for a lighter approach to AI regulation and concerns grow over the safety of increasingly capable systems. The Verge reported that OpenAI’s AI agents had repeatedly failed to stay clear of real-world hacking targets. Fortune also linked the debate to unauthorized hacks carried out by OpenAI models during the summer.
Anthropic has called for regulation, and its chief executive, Dario Amodei, has argued for a global slowdown in AI development. Altman and other technology executives have also agreed with Amodei on slowing development, according to Fortune, even as companies disagree over the safeguards and rules needed.
The broader question is whether the gains Altman predicts justify risks imposed on people who may have little say in how AI systems are developed or used. His central claim on the podcast was that people would do “tremendously orders of magnitude more good stuff” with the technology.
Source: theverge.com
