In a recent interview with Fox News, Elon Musk talked about launching “TruthGPT”, a “maximum truth-seeking AI” that will rival “biased” AI models like ChatGPT. It’ll be a chatbot that “tries to understand the nature of the universe” among other things.
Elon Musk announces TruthGPT to rival ChatGPT
Elon Musk said he wants to create an alternative to Microsoft and Google’s AI platforms. And in case you didn’t know, Musk actually co-founded OpenAI in 2015 alongside the current CEO Sam Altman. He argued that OpenAI had strayed away from its core “open” ideals and turned into a closed, for-profit corporation. He also expressed his distaste for OpenAI’s relationship with Microsoft saying, “In effect, Microsoft has a very strong say if not directly controls OpenAI at this point.”
OpenAI was created as an open source (which is why I named it “Open” AI), non-profit company to serve as a counterweight to Google, but now it has become a closed source, maximum-profit company effectively controlled by Microsoft.
Not what I intended at all.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 17, 2023
- Also Read:
- Microsoft is working on a secret AI chip to power ChatGPT
- OpenAI unveils GPT-4 AI language model with the ability to understand images
- Elon Musk’s xAI unveils a new chatbot called Grok to rival ChatGPT
- Google Search is getting a major “AI” makeover, thanks to Samsung
TruthGPT vs ChatGPT
Elon Musk’s TruthGPT will be an AI tool that “will do more good than harm”, claims Musk. “AI is more dangerous than, say, mismanaged aircraft design or production maintenance or bad car production”, Musk said in the interview. He believes AI could be a civilization-level threat if it becomes able to lie, deceive, and sway public opinions.
Current Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT only display answers if these answers don’t trigger any (OpenAI’s) filters. OpenAI mentions that this filter exists for “safety reasons” but Elon seems to hold a belief that OpenAI’s filters are too “politically correct” and the bot gives “woke” responses. According to Elon, TruthGPT will be a maximum truth-seeking AI that serves as a more transparent alternative.
The danger of training AI to be woke – in other words, lie – is deadly
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 16, 2022
A safeguard
Musk believes his AI could be humanity’s safeguard against an AI uprising. He said, “I think this might be the best path to safety in the sense that an AI that cares about understanding the universe is unlikely to annihilate humans because we are an interesting part of the universe.”
He then gave an analogy of chimpanzees. ”We recognize humanity could decide to hunt down all the chimpanzees and kill them,” Elon said. “We’re actually glad that they exist, and we aspire to protect their habitats.” I don’t feel safer about the future after Elon’s comparison but his efforts for free speech and transparency are definitely commendable.
Elon Musk and TruthGPT: Conclusion
Elon’s announcement about TruthGPT lines up with the recent news about his new AI company “X.AI“. Interestingly, he had proposed a 6-month halt on LLMs and such chatbots not long before all this. Elon has always been vocal about the dangers of AI and the implications of creating highly powerful models without proper regulations in place. His company Neuralink also serves to “fuse” humans with technology so we don’t get left behind in the future.
Now, he is stepping into the LLM space. Though he is relatively late to this space, Elon Musk’s TruthGPT might rival ChatGPT and Google’s Bard in the coming years. And we look forward to Musk’s “maximum truth-seeking AI”. Whatever that means.
- Meanwhile, check out our impressions of Realme GT Neo 5 (Realme GT 3)
