OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has revealed what the future holds for ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that has taken the world by storm, in a wide-ranging interview. While speaking with Lex Friedman, an artificial intelligence researcher and podcaster at MIT, Altman talks about the plans for GPT-4 and GPT-5, as well as the very temporary removal of him as CEO and Elon Musk's ongoing lawsuit.
Now I say GPT-5, but that is currently the unofficial name used to refer to it, as it is still in development and even Altman himself alludes to not conclusively knowing what it will end up being called. He gives this somewhat cryptic quote about the nature of the upcoming OpenAI release:
“…What is the great unlocking? Is it a bigger computer? Is it a new secret? It's something more? It's all these things together.”
He then goes on to state that he and his colleagues think that what OpenAI does really well is “multiplying 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 that he's excited to see the next iteration of GPT “get smarter.”
What's on the horizon for OpenAI?
Friedman directly asks Altman to “blink twice” if we can expect GPT-5 this year, to which Altman refused. Instead, he explained that OpenAI will release other big things first, specifically the new (currently unnamed) model that Altman spoke so poetically about. This piqued my interest and I'm wondering if they're related to anything we've seen (and tried) so far, or if they're something completely new. I would recommend watching the full interview as it is an interesting look 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 kept secret, and that Altman likes to talk in riddles. It's kind of funny, but I think people would like to know how big of a leap forward in AI we're about to see. I think Altman has some awareness of people's anxieties about the fact that we are in an era of a widespread AI revolution, and at least recognizes that society needs time to adapt and process the introduction of a technological force like the AI.
You seem to be aware on some level of the potential that AI and the very concept of artificial general intelligence (AGI) will likely overhaul almost every aspect of our lives and the world, and that gives me some comfort. Altman and OpenAI want our attention and they have it right now, and it seems they are preparing something very special to keep it.
