Is OpenAI Solving the Wrong Problem? (hbr.org)

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday December 15, 2015 @08:06AM from the we-should-invent-some-awesome-AI-to-figure-it-out dept.

hype7 writes: The Harvard Business Review is running an article looking at the recently announced OpenAI initiative, and its decision to structure the venture as a non-profit. It goes on to ask some pretty provocative questions: why are the 21st century's greatest tech luminaries opting out of the system that made them so successful in order to tackle one of humanity's thorniest problems? "Implicit in this: You can do more good operating outside the bounds of capitalism than within them. Coming from folks who are at the upper echelons of the system, it’s a pretty powerful statement." And, if the underlying system that we all operate in is broken, is creating a vehicle without the profit motive inside of it going to be enough?

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Re:Hobbies by ShanghaiBill · 2015-12-15 08:29 · Score: 5, Insightful

Believe it or not, some people just like doing certain things, regardless of monetary reward.
That is not what this is about. Some people, including Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, etc. believe that AI is a potential danger to humanity. Although capitalism is great at maximizing profits, it is not so great at collective moral responsibility. So they think a non-profit is a better vehicle for ethical AI.
Personally, I think they are being silly. Real human-level AI is still a ways off, and corporate AI is focused on solving practical problems rather than creating Skynet. Besides, AI is not something you can keep bottled up. Anyone with a GPU can do it.