OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has revealed in a wide-ranging interview what the future could hold for ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that has taken the world by storm. While in conversation with Lex Friedmanan MIT artificial intelligence researcher and podcaster, Altman talks about plans for GPT-4 and GPT-5, as well as his very temporary ouster as CEO, and Elon Musk’s ongoing lawsuit.
Now I say GPT-5, but that is currently the unofficial name referring to it as it is still being developed and even Altman himself hints that he doesn’t know definitively what it will ultimately be called. He provides this somewhat cryptic quote about the nature of OpenAI’s upcoming release:
“…what’s the one big unlock? Is it a bigger computer? Is it a new secret? Is it something else? It’s all these things together.”
He then follows this by stating that he and his colleagues think what OpenAI does very well is “multiply 200 medium-sized things together into one giant thing.” He specifically confirms to Friedman that this applies “especially on the technical side”. When Altman and Friedman talk about the jump from GPT-4 to GPT-5, Altman says he’s excited to see that the next GPT iteration will be “smarter.”
What’s next for OpenAI
Friedman directly asks Altman to “blink twice” whether we can expect GPT-5 this year, which Altman declined to do. Instead, he explained that OpenAI will release other important things first, most notably the new model (currently unnamed) that Altman spoke so poetically about. This piqued my interest and I’m wondering if they’re related to something we’ve seen (and tried) so far, or something entirely new. I’d recommend watching the entire interview as it provides an interesting glimpse into the mind of one of the people leading the charge and shaping what the next generation of technology, specifically ChatGPT, will look like.
Overall, we can’t conclude much, and this interview suggests that what OpenAI is working on is quite important and well-hidden – and that Altman likes to speak in riddles. That’s kind of funny, but I think people are eager to know how big of an advance in AI we’re going to see. I think Altman is somewhat aware of people’s concerns about the fact that we are in an era of a widespread AI revolution, and he at least recognizes that society needs time to adapt and the introduction of a technological force like AI.
It seems that on some level he is aware of the potential that AI and the concept of artificial general intelligence (AGI) will likely change almost every aspect of our lives and the world, and that gives me some reassurance. Altman and OpenAI want our attention and right now they have it – and it looks like they’re coming up with something very special to keep it.