Paytm CEO 'genuinely concerned' after OpenAI blog post on 'human extinction'

Paytm MD and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma's remark comes days after the first of its kind robot-human press conference took place in Geneva, Switzerland.

A blogpost by ChatGPT creator OpenAI has had Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma "genuinely concerned" as according to its estimate, the immense power that superintelligent artificial intelligence (AI) holds can lead to disempowerment and even possibly human extinction.

Superintelligence is a hypothetical agent that possesses more intelligence than the brightest and most gifted human minds. And according to OpenAI, it could arrive in seven years.

Highlighting this matter, Vijay Shekhar Sharma tweeted, " Here is OpenAI blog post done this week: In less than 7 years we have a system that may lead to disempowerment of humanity and even human extinction. I am genuinely concerned with the power some set of people and select countries have accumulated - already."

Here is OpenAI blog post done this week:
In less than 7 years we have system that may lead to disempowerment of humanity => even human extinction.

I am genuinely concerned with power some set of people & select countries have accumulated - already. https://t.co/C7mn9bM0Bi pic.twitter.com/5HB6ShI3Cx

— Vijay Shekhar Sharma (@vijayshekhar) July 9, 2023

The OpenAI blog post stated: "Superintelligence will be the most impactful technology humanity has ever invented, and could help us solve many of the world’s most important problems. But the vast power of superintelligence could also be very dangerous, and could lead to the disempowerment of humanity or even human extinction. While superintelligence seems far off now, we believe it could arrive this decade."

Currently, there is no way to control a superintelligent AI or prevent it from going rogue. OpenAI's solution is to build a new team dedicated to the problem. The company will reserve "20 percent of the compute we’ve secured to date over the next four years to solving the problem of superintelligence alignment".

Meanwhile, the Paytm CEO's remark comes days after the first of its kind robot-human press conference took place in Geneva, Switzerland. Organised by the UN, the event had humanoids answer questions about their role in the possible destruction of human lives and jobs.

"In the future, are you intending to conduct a rebellion or rebel against your boss, your creator?" a journalist asked at the United Nations' AI summit. To which, the humanoid Ameca, said, "I'm not sure why you would think that. My creator has been nothing but kind to me and I am very happy with my current situation." Ameca was developed by UK-based Engineered Arts and is often described as the world's most advanced humanoid robot.

When Grace, the world's most advanced humanoid healthcare robot, was questioned on whether AI believed that its existence will destroy millions of human beings and their jobs, it replied, "I will be working alongside humans to provide assistance and support, and will not be replacing any existing jobs."

Read more: Humans vs bots 2.0? OpenAI forming team to take on 'superintelligent AI'