OpenAI’s policy chief says AI companies ‘need to do a better job’ talking about AI

The following statements about AI’s transformative impact on work may help justify the developing appreciation in some AI companies. But this rhetoric is in part also behind some of the technology backlash. A new one NBC News poll found that only 26% of US voters have a positive view of technology, while 46% have a negative view. Now, OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer Chris Lehane is warning people to stop messaging around AI.

“Some of the conversations out there are not necessarily responsible,” he said The San Francisco Standard. “And when you put some of those thoughts and ideas out there, it has results.”

“It’s not fun and games,” he added. “This is serious s–t.”

The constant drumbeat of promises of AI’s labor market impact, as well the threat of power surges bills and its danger to childrenthere are more and more Americans who reject technology. And in recent weeks, the backlash over the technology has turned violent.

Last week, a 20-year-old man named Daniel Moreno-Gama traveled from his home in Texas to San Francisco and allegedly lobbed a Molotov cocktail at the gate of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home. The authorities immediately found a MANIFESTO from Moreno-Gama warning of the extinction of humanity at the hands of AI, which includes a threat of murder. Reactions to attack social platforms such as Instagram and TikTok suggests that sentiment runs deep. Comments like “He’s not scared enough” and “THE MAN IS FREE HE DID NO WRONG” or “Finally some good news in my feed” reveal a widespread fear of technology, at least on the internet.

The incident follows a separate shooting at the Indiana city councilor’s house after the councilor expressed support for a data center project in his district. The councilor said the perpetrator shot 13 bullets into the home and left a “no data centers” sign on the door.

What to make of the current discourse surrounding AI

For Lehane, it’s about emphasizing the positives of technology. “Our job in OpenAI and in the AI ​​space—and we need to do a better job—is to explain to people why … it’s going to be really good for them, for their families and for a lot of society,” he said.

Of course, AI optimists are already singing the technology’s praises. Some have that in just a few years, we will work a three day work week and relax on the beach while the AI ​​agents do our work for us.

“There’s a group that’s effectively saying, ‘This is the best thing, everyone’s going to be living in beach houses, painting watercolors while they’re away on their days,'” Lehane said. “And then you have another extreme, which I’ll call the Doomers, who have a very negative and dark view of humanity.”

The data is up to date support some of Lehane’s doubts about dire predictions. A study published in February by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that out of 6,000 CEOs and other executives, most saw little impact from AI on their operations. That’s even with about two-thirds of executives reported using AI. And while some tech companies have begun mass layoffs due to AI automation, including Jack Dorsey Blockand most recently, Snapthe impact of technology on the labor market has not yet been reflected in macro data. In March, the employers posted 178,000 job gains and the unemployment rate fell to 4.3%, suggesting that job gains, at least in the short term, outweigh AI-related layoffs.

“You’ve got a series of things that have been put out there—but haven’t been implemented—about extreme things that are going to happen,” Lehane said.