Sam Altman has been topping headlines this past year as the CEO of OpenAI, the company responsible for the development of the infamous ChatGPT. Altman, who was named Time Magazine’s CEO of the year, recently found his position in peril as he was suddenly voted out by OpenAI’s Board of Directors on November 17th, 2023. This decision was immediately followed by an outcry from many employees. On November 20th, 800 workers signed a letter that demanded the resignation of the board and the re-hiring of Altman. Altman was offered to lead an AI team for Microsoft instead, and numerous employees threatened to follow him should the Board not reinstate the former CEO. Altman’s position was presented back to him on November 21st, just a day after the employees threatened to leave. His reemployment fueled further discussion and speculation about the internal dynamics. “It took me a few minutes to snap out of it and get over the ego and emotions to then be like ‘Yeah of course I want to do that,’” Sam Altman told The Verge about his decision to reaccept his position.
Some rumored that Altman was kicked off for not upholding OpenAI’s original mission of ethically developing artificial intelligence. There were concerns that Altman was carried away by profit-driven greed and exhibited a lack of transparency. Alternatively, Business Insider put it simply, “The board might have simply — and vaguely — gotten the ick.” Some board members changed their vote from against to supporting Altman within a few days. For many, this ordeal has been viewed as far too flimsy a decision that should have been dealt with much more care. Maureen Dowd at the New York Times stated that the quick firing and rehiring of Altman was “farcical” and “terrifying because it showed that we are totally at the mercy of Silicon Valley boys with their toys, egos crashing, temperaments colliding, ambition and greed soaring.”
This CEO position is especially coveted as OpenAI’s advancements in recent years have started to shape the future of artificial intelligence. OpenAI’s innovations, particularly the widespread adoption of ChatGPT, open up the world to potential revolutions in critical industries such as healthcare, finance, and education, to name a few. However, it also creates new discussions about ethical considerations regarding the effect of artificial intelligence on humanity.
Today, OpenAI and the snowball effects of artificial intelligence reflect not only on our society’s increasing reliance on technology but also a call for careful consideration of the types of services AI provides to people. As we have seen throughout this year especially, AI has become more widely accessible and integrated into our daily lives and society. This has had negative effects on learning development and cognitive skills. Ellie Sebesta, a student at Cambridge Rindge and Latin tells the Register Forum “I have seen other people and myself leaning towards using ChatGPT out of convenience” when asked about the use of AI in our school. The question for our future still stands: how will we balance innovation and efficiency with ethical responsibility?
