ChatGPT generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) has become a new buzzword in a matter of a few months. I personally tried ChatGPT several times, and every time I interacted with it, it surprised me more. The more I explored this large language model, the more curious I became. This curiosity eventually led me to the conference called “Beyond ChatGPT: Stuart Russell on the Risks and Rewards of A.I.” organized by the Commonwealth Club of California on April 3, 2023. I was very fortunate to meet Stuart Russell -- a Computer Scientist, Scholar, Researcher, and Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley and to receive a copy of his book, Human Compatible.
Insights he shared about the latest developments in AI and the power of ChatGPT truly amazed everyone in the conference hall. One of the three questions I asked him was whether there was a kill-switch in case the AI gets out of control, and his answer was positive. However, when I asked ChatGPT the same question “is there a
kill-switch for you?” and the response I got was the following: “As an AI language model, I do not have a kill-switch that can be used to shut me down completely.” It was an interesting response, but it also was scary at the same time. I highly recommend that you watch the video of the conference available on YouTube. Russell’s responses gave us insight on the potential risks and rewards of AI. Although AI has a lot of capabilities, it still has limitations.