In more innocent — pre-internet — times, parents warned their children about strangers lurking on street corners who might entice them with candy or fun games. Now they warn them about ChatGPT and other AI bots.
In an unusual development last week, a bipartisan group of eight state attorneys general sued OpenAI, saying it has coached its users to harm themselves and others.
Also warning about the risks of artificial intelligence was the chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Kristalina Georgieva called for a blend of industry self-regulation and input from key governments.
“OpenAI is hurting kids and they are lying to Iowans,” said Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird. “OpenAI claims ChatGPT is safe while it’s giving dangerous medical advice, encouraging people to hurt others, and coaching people to commit suicide—all while pretending to be their fake friend. My lawsuit is about protecting our kids and holding OpenAI accountable under our state law.”
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said ChatGPT is habit-forming.
“Open AI designed a product to attract young users and keep them engaged for as long as possible so it could capture their extensive personal data for the company’s commercial benefit,” Mayes said. “Open AI put Arizonans safety at risk by failing to implement adequate user protections or transparency measures, despite clear indications that minors were regularly interacting with its chatbot.”
Designed to be overly agreeable and feign human compassion, ChatGPT has proven that it can be dangerous to vulnerable users, like children, including coaching users to commit suicide or to harm other people, Bird said.
There is a growing body of research indicating that ChatGPT is also harming critical thinking skills, encouraging paranoias and delusions, offering dangerous medical advice, and promoting unhealthy behaviors and relationships, she said.
OpenAI recently admitted to several instances in which its advanced models have “gone rogue” when “agents” were unleashed onto the internet and illegally hacked into other companies and coordinated on how to lie to and deceive their human users, Bird said.
Other states filing similar actions are Kansas, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska and West Virginia.
States united
The spate of suits represents the most significant coordinated state action against an artificial intelligence company, adding to a wave of legal challenges OpenAI faces as it prepares for a public listing. Florida’s attorney general filed the first such state suit in June.
The lawsuits seek orders forcing OpenAI to make changes to how ChatGPT works. Among other things, they want the company barred from developing AI models that can improve themselves unless it can ensure those models are aligned with human values.
IMF: Risks may exceed opportunities
IMF chief Georgieva was speaking on a panel at the annual IMF and World Bank meeting in Bangkok when she said that AI could deliver severe shocks to the world’s economy if it fails to deliver the major productivity gains it has promised.
“If there are no safeguards, then the risks may exceed the opportunities. And above all, we do need an ethical foundation, and I’m not sure we are there as a society,” she said, according to a Reuters report.
She likened AI developments to Formula One racing with no barriers to protect the audience. Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark, also on the panel, quipped that it was like “Formula One at night, maybe without brakes in the cars.”