16-1-2024 (SAN FRANCISCO) OpenAI, the artificial intelligence lab backed by Microsoft, has announced the establishment of a new team called “Collective Alignment.” The team’s primary objective is to develop democratic processes that will govern OpenAI’s AI software, addressing concerns such as bias and other relevant factors. This initiative builds upon a grant program that was introduced in May 2023 to fund experiments related to democratic processes. According to OpenAI, the program has recently concluded.
Tyna Eloundou, a research engineer and founding member of the “Collective Alignment” team, emphasized the importance of soliciting direct input from individuals as OpenAI advances towards its mission of developing superintelligent models that could become integral parts of society. Eloundou stated, “As we continue to pursue our mission towards superintelligent models who potentially could be seen as integral parts of our society … it’s important to give people the opportunity to provide input directly.”
To ensure that only humans have voting rights, OpenAI may collaborate with Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency project founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Worldcoin offers a means of distinguishing between humans and AI bots. Teddy Lee, a product manager and the other member of the two-person team, mentioned the possibility of integrating Worldcoin but clarified that no concrete plans have been made yet.
OpenAI gained significant attention with the launch of ChatGPT, a generative AI technology capable of producing remarkably authoritative prose based on text prompts. However, concerns have emerged regarding AI’s potential to generate “deepfake” images and spread misinformation, particularly in relation to the upcoming 2024 U.S. election campaign. Critics argue that AI systems like ChatGPT can exhibit inherent bias due to the inputs they receive, and instances of racist or sexist outputs from AI software have been discovered by users.
The newly formed OpenAI team is actively seeking to hire a research engineer and research scientist. They will collaborate closely with OpenAI’s “Human Data” team, which focuses on building infrastructure to collect human input on the company’s AI models, as well as other research teams.
