OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company that launched the wildly popular ChatGPT, may reportedly launch GPT-5 by the end of 2023, according to Siqi Chen, a tech entrepreneur and developer.
Artificial General Intelligence
Chen's claim that GPT-5 "will" achieve Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) has caused a stir in the AI world as tech leaders seek to halt the progress of AI in becoming human-like, reported first by Interesting Engineering.
If the claim is true, this development in AI technology might have a significant impact because generative AI may become human-indistinguishable with a GPT-5 upgrade. Hence, it may achieve AGI.
AGI is an artificial intelligence system that can perform any intellectual task that a human being can do. Unlike narrow AI systems, which are designed to perform specific tasks, AGI systems are intended to have a broad range of cognitive abilities, including the ability to reason, learn, plan, perceive, understand natural language, and solve problems.
"I have been told that GPT-5 is scheduled to complete training this December and that OpenAI expects it to achieve AGI," Chen tweeted on Monday. "Which means we will all hotly debate as to whether it actually achieves AGI. Which means it will."
On the bright side of things, AGI might increase productivity by expediting AI-enabled processes and freeing humans of monotonous work. While Chen recognized that reaching AGI with GPT-5 is not a consensus belief within OpenAI, he added that "non-zero people there believe it will get there."
Nevertheless, giving an AI so much power could have unexpected and even negative effects. This would make it possible to create highly convincing human-like bots for social media platforms, making it possible to covertly spread misinformation and propaganda.
With the help of GPT-5 and chatbot plugins, Chen believes "we are so much closer" to reaching AGI.
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Tech Leaders Seek a Pause
While current AI systems are impressive in their ability to perform specific tasks, they lack the flexibility and adaptability of human intelligence. AGI, on the other hand, would be able to handle a wide range of tasks and be able to learn and adapt to new situations much like humans do.
Elon Musk and more than a thousand other tech executives and researchers published an open letter on Wednesday warning that the advancement of AI could hasten the spread of misinformation and propaganda and that it would be in the best interests of humanity to prevent any progress made beyond GPT-4.
The letter requests that all AI labs immediately halt the development of AI systems more potent than GPT-4 for at least six months. This halt should involve all key actors and be made public and verifiable.
However, it remains to be seen whether AI labs will heed this request. Time will also tell if Chen's claim happens to be accurate sooner this year.
Related Article: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Says He's Scared of ChatGPT's Potential to Eliminate Human Jobs
