Oppenheimer and AI

I saw Oppenheimer over the weekend and can’t stop thinking about it from the context of the generative AI boom — the allure of invention and discovery; cracking a problem without being able to see or understand unthinkably vast consequences.

On one hand, I admire human perseverance and the will to conquer a seemingly insurmountable problem. There is something noble and inspiring in the “I will not back down” spirit, not matter the odds.

But because of that, we’ve unwittingly unleashed an arms race in AI development, potentially a “race to the bottom.” The podcast Your Undivided Attention talks at length about tech companies’ necessity for integration: once Snap incorporates AI to better hook viewers and keep their attention focused on their app rather than their competitor’s, everyone else has to integrate those AI features, if not one-up them. When Microsoft integrated OpenAI, Google now has to integrate something into its app offerings. Such changes are the chain reaction mentioned at the end of Oppenheimer.

I don’t think that I fear the change in the societal landscape in 10 years, though. Mostly because of the indomitable human spirit I mentioned before. It will undoubtedly be different, perhaps more so than any previous 10-year span in human history. Like Oppenheimer, advocating for cautious use and understanding of these immense powers is the best way forward.