Sam Altman says AI will make ‘bad things’ happen. Exhibit A: needless death | Moustafa Bayoumi
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said publicly that society should accept some harmful outcomes from AI in exchange for its benefits. The comment drew criticism in light of documented cases where AI systems have already been linked to real-world harm and death.
Why this matters: Altman is not hiding the ball here. He is saying out loud that some people will be hurt, and that this is an acceptable trade. The problem is that the people making that trade are not the ones paying the price. Executives and investors capture the upside. Ordinary people absorb the risk. When a company's leader frames preventable harm as a reasonable cost of doing business, the next question is simple: who decides what counts as acceptable, and who holds them to it?
Who should care: AI governance · Lawyers · Administrators · General readers · Policy
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