Experts calling for a pause on AI development will be glad to hear that OpenAI isn't currently training GPT-5. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman spoke remotely at an MIT event and was quizzed about AI by computer scientist and podcaster Lex Fridman. Altman confirmed that OpenAI is not currently developing a fifth version of its Generative Pre-trained Transformer model and is instead focusing on enhancing the capabilities of GPT-4, the latest version. Altman was asked about the open letter that urged developers to pause training AI models larger than GPT-4 for six months. While he supported the idea of ensuring AI models are safe and aligned with human values, he believed that the letter lacked technical nuance regarding where to pause.

OpenAI's CEO and co-founder Sam Altman on Friday said that the company is not trying to train GPT-5 after AI language model GPT-4, which was released last month. In recent months, OpenAI has become a familiar name on the backs of latest technology like ChatGPT and GPT-4. ChatGPT is an AI program that has gained attention for its ability to generate quick and comprehensive answers to a wide range of queries. With over 100 million monthly active users, it is the fastest-growing consumer application in history. However, its rapid growth has raised concerns about its potential impact on safety, privacy, and employment.

During a conversation about potential risks associated with AI systems, Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, confirmed that the organization is not training GPT-5, the anticipated successor to its GPT-4 AI language model, which was released in March. Altman made this statement while speaking at an event held at MIT, where he was asked about an open letter circulated among the tech community. The letter requested that labs such as OpenAI must pause the development of AI systems that are "more powerful than GPT-4" due to concerns about the safety of future systems. However, the letter has been criticized by numerous industry professionals, including some of its signatories. Experts disagree on the level of threat posed by AI, as well as on how the industry can "pause" development in the first place. Altman stated that the letter "lacks most of the technical nuances about where we need the pause" and highlighted that an earlier version of the letter had claimed that OpenAI was currently training GPT-5.

Because of the overlap between the worlds of consumer tech and artificial intelligence, this same logic is now often applied to systems like OpenAI's language models. This is true not only of the sort of hucksters who post hyperbolic Twitter threads predicting that superintelligent AI will be here in a matter of years because the numbers keep getting bigger but also of more informed and sophisticated commentators. As a lot of claims made about AI superintelligence are essentially unfalsifiable, these individuals rely on similar rhetoric to get their point across. They draw vague graphs with axes labeled "progress" and "time," plot a line going up and to the right, and present this uncritically as evidence.