Twitter still working on AI despite Musk call for global pause
3 Min Read
According to US media sources, Elon Musk is going forward with an artificial intelligence project at Twitter, despite recently calling for a halt in the development of AI.
-
Elon Musk during the Axel Springer Awards ceremony in Berlin on December 1, 2020. (AFP)
Elon Musk is making headway with an artificial intelligence project at Twitter, despite recently calling for a halt in the advancement of such technology, according to US media sources.
According to Insider, Musk has purchased thousands of powerful, pricy computer processors and employed AI engineering expertise, while information reports that the entrepreneur has floated the notion of launching a competitor to ChatGPT.
Read more: ChatGPT described as 'worrying' by UN chief: UN Spox
However, Musk has reduced employees at Twitter as part of a big cost-cutting effort after acquiring the San Francisco startup for $44 billion late last year.
The Insider story comes less than two weeks after Musk signed a letter with experts urging for a pause in AI development. The open letter, published on the website of Musk's Future of Life Institute, called for a six-month halt on the creation of strong AI systems.
According to the wealthy Tesla CEO and others, "AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity."
Academics and computer luminaries like Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak signed the petition, arguing that the pause should be utilized to strengthen regulation and assure the systems' safety.
Opponents, on the other hand, described the letter as a "hot mess" of "AI hype" that even misinterpreted a scholarly work.
Insider elaborated that Musk's budding AI effort at Twitter involves training a language model to produce written material.
According to the source, generative AI might be used as a search or advertising tool, although Musk did not specify what its role will be at Twitter.
Twitter responded to a comment request with a feces emoji, an auto-reply feature implemented by Musk.
Google, Meta, and Microsoft have spent years developing AI systems – previously known as machine learning or big data – to aid with translations, search, and targeted advertising.
Nevertheless, late last year, the San Francisco business OpenAI stoked interest in AI by releasing ChatGPT, a bot that can create screeds of natural language writing from a single command.
Musk co-founded OpenAI before departing in 2018.
Since then, Microsoft has stated that it is investing billions of dollars in OpenAI and incorporating its technology into its Bing internet search service.
