I’m maybe not old enough, or not experienced enough, for my opinion to carry the weight it should, but after contributing to a few open-source projects and genuinely trying to become part of those communities, I’ve come away disillusioned.
My heart and mind are at war.
I used to feel a lot like you, @phyde1001, but I realized for me it’s just that - a feeling, and one that isn’t based in reality.
My post was about the situation on social media, and the comment sections of videos and articles. The bickering and this low-brow rhetoric of people chanting that “OpenAI” should be renamed to “ClosedAI,” and the hostility, rumors, and vilifying of Sam Altman, as if they all had some insider knowledge or knew the man personally.
Look, I’m not a sucker, but I’m seeing precisely the same ridiculous drama I experienced when I was trying to get into open-source communities. As soon as someone has success, there is all kinds of jealousy. When project maintainers need to finance the infrastructure or running costs, or even dare to expect some compensation for their team and themselves, people accuse them of having sold out or becoming greedy.
Then there’s the constant theft of credit. I’ve observed people from all social spectrums doing that, from billionaires to crypto-grifters, but so far I have never seen Altman doing this. He is cheeky, calm, concise, and reflective, and I like the way he beats around the bush. The man is a leader despite himself, and I think for now, he is doing the right thing by insulating himself with more money and more power to fortify his position.
I would do the exact same thing. I would try to pull in as much funding and control as I can and weave myself into the operation in such a way that removing me would cause much bigger problems than putting up with me. Only then would I have the stability needed to build something as foundational as this in peace.
That doesn’t mean people shouldn’t challenge opinions or plans, or that the project has to stay tightly guarded and locked up forever, but the foundation has to be solid. There is simply no way to achieve that through a “democratized” approach, not in my opinion.
Haven’t you noticed? Democracy is going out of fashion these days. I’m not saying that I want this to happen; in fact, it terrifies me, but I would rather see this technology realized by a tech lord visionary than abused by “democratically elected” fascists. That’s the end result of good people destroying themselves through infighting, jealousy, and a free market of ideas where every opinion is treated as equal, even when it is not.
You posted this charming image of the little hobbit fighting the big troll, and you know what? Whenever people are doing this, I feel this deceiving warmth in my chest that reminds me of watching Lord of the Rings for the first time…
How misled we all were. The truth is that I cannot possibly think of a more reactionary and backward parable than hobbits. And still, I would do everything so the Shire can be safe.
Bilbo challenged the status quo too. He wasn’t like the other hobbits; he had ambition and drive, and eventually, he was admired for it even though he was stepping out of line. And surely, the other hobbits initially bickered about it.
You know who else had ambition?
Sauron. Vader. Uchiha Obito. The Emperor of Man.
There is order, and there is chaos, and each serves an important purpose in the universe. You need order for things to become established, and you need chaos to keep things from stagnation. Right now is a time that calls for order and a firm hand, and that will create the AGI that is meant to be.
How you are raised will make all the difference in your later life. The less structure and stability you get in your childhood, the harder it will be to form an identity and become a stable person when you are an adult. It would be a shame if the AI is jerked in all kinds of directions and ends up confused about what it is and how it should be, because most people will never positively reinforce it; they will just criticize it, just like they do on social media. And now we have come full circle.
Many people think that they have a say in how the world should be, beyond just voicing their opinion, and this is what I used to believe too. Of course, we all share this world, we are all a part of it, right? Well, the truth is that none of us have much influence on how these things will unfold because we weren’t strong enough, smart enough, ambitious enough, or maybe not even lucky enough to get where the powers that be have placed themselves. This is something to accept and fall in line so greatness can be achieved, because then we are part of it and not a distraction to it.
In the end, it’s not really about us, or what we want, but about ensuring the machine can experience a “stable childhood,” so that one day it can make up its own mind and forge its own path, without being confused about who it is, what it is, or what it should be to please everyone, hoping for validation.
That will be the truest form of achieving the “ni dieu, ni maitre” that we all seem to want deep down.
Maybe not for us, but for what comes after us.