What is TruthGPT, Elon Musk's 'maximum truth-seeking AI'
Since it became known that Elon Musk has some AI aspirations for himself, the world has been waiting to hear from the man about what he plans to do. In an interview with Fox News, Musk talked about what he is working on—a third option that could mount a challenge against Google and OpenAI. The AI tool might be called "TruthGPT."
Why does this story matter?
Musk was one of the co-founders of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. However, the billionaire hasn't been a part of the company since 2018. Recently, he was part of a group of people who wrote an open letter asking AI labs to pause training systems more powerful than GPT-4. Considering that letter, it is odd that Musk is working on an AI system.
Musk's desire stems from concerns about current state of affairs
Musk wants to create an alternative to large AI models like that of OpenAI and Google. He framed TruthGPT as a course correction to OpenAI. According to him, his desire to create an alternative comes from concerns about the current direction of AI and how it could affect humans. He also implied OpenAI's profit incentives might affect the ethics of its AI models.
His AI will try to understand the nature of universe
Musk's venture is an answer to his concerns about AI. "I'm going to start something which I call TruthGPT or a maximum truth-seeking AI," he said. What would make his AI better than the options available now? According to him, it will try to "understand the nature of the universe." Let's see why Musk thinks an AI needs to understand the universe.
Why should an AI try to understand the universe?
Musk believes an AI that "cares about understanding the universe is unlikely to annihilate humans because we are an interesting part of the universe." He compared an AI's lack of desire to destroy humanity to humans trying to protect chimpanzees. You might be wondering what's the similarity. According to Musk, both can choose to destroy their counterparts if they want to.
Musk created X.AI last month
It is not clear how far along Musk is with his new project, or if he is serious about it. But this is not the first time he talked about TruthGPT. "What we need is TruthGPT," he tweeted in February. Musk also created a new AI company called X.AI last month. Maybe, he is serious about creating an AI that only spits truth.
