Sam Altman proposes that providing everyone with ‘a slice of GPT’ could cover the costs of UBI
He also reiterated his proposal for an international safety agency aimed at safeguarding against existential threats associated with AI.
OpenAI CEO and Tools for Humanity Chairperson Sam Altman envisions that the advancements made by contemporary cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) models could trigger a substantial restructuring of socioeconomics. Altman recently outlined a concept where treating “compute” as a resource and asset might replace monetary income as a means of facilitating universal basic income (UBI), during a recent interview on the All-In podcast.
While the discussion covered various topics, it swiftly shifted to the risks associated with AI and how humanity would confront threats ranging from AI-induced human extinction to job displacement. Regarding the former concern, Altman acknowledged the possibility that AI models could eventually pose such risks.
His proposed solution involves establishing a global oversight board capable of regulating major projects, thereby allowing startups to operate relatively unhindered by potentially inhibitory regulations.
Altman reassured the All-In team that GPT-4, OpenAI’s current cutting-edge production model, does not present any “significant” threat to human lives.
Regarding employment, Altman is a prominent advocate for UBI. In addition to leading OpenAI, he heads Tools for Humanity, a company whose primary offering is the Worldcoin cryptocurrency and identity verification platform. Worldcoin is distributed to individuals who verify their humanity, after which they receive a monthly token stipend.
Speaking to the All-In team, Altman criticized government poverty assistance programs as largely ineffective and advocated for a straightforward, respectful approach to UBI:
“I’m not a huge fan of how the government has handled most policies aimed at assisting poor people, and I believe that if you simply provide people with money, they will make sound decisions and the market will function as intended.”
He acknowledged that providing people with money won’t solve all problems and won’t necessarily make people happy, but suggested that it could address some issues and provide individuals with a better foundation to help themselves.
Explaining his advocacy for UBI, Altman mentioned that he and his colleagues realized as far back as 2016, when they began taking AI seriously, that it could have profound effects. They conducted studies and found promise in UBI.
Now, Altman posits that the UBI paradigm itself might be due for a transformation:
“2016 feels like a distant past. … I wonder if the future might entail something more akin to universal basic compute than universal basic income, where everyone receives a share of GPT-7’s compute power and can utilize it, sell it, or donate it for purposes like cancer research.
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