SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s floated plan to introduce erotica to the most widely used AI chatbot in the world has drawn backlash and criticism from across the internet. Some are drawing a juxtaposition to a blog post Altman posted just last month, when the tech billionaire suggested that AI could potentially “figure out how to cure cancer.”
Others are pointing to an interview Altman did just two months ago, where he bragged that, “we haven’t put a sex-bot avatar on ChatGPT yet.“
Now one of Altman’s fellow billionaires is weighing in.
“This is going to backfire. Hard. No parent is going to trust that their kids can’t get through your age gating. They will just push their kids to every other LLM,” responded Marc Cuban in a tweet.
“Why take the risk?” he added. “Same for schools. Why take the risk? A few seniors in HS are 18 and decide it would be fun to show the hard core erotica they created to the 14 year olds.”
“What could go wrong?” the Dallas Mavericks owner added.
Altman, in his initial tweet, said that ChatGPT would be introducing erotica for verified adults in December as the AI company rolls out improved age-gating as part of its “treat adult users like adults” principle.
In a follow-up tweet on Wednesday, Altman apparently sought to clarify the remarks.
“Ok this tweet about upcoming changes to ChatGPT blew up on the erotica point much more than I thought it was going go!” Altman posted on X Wednesday. “It was meant to be just one example of us allowing more user freedom for adults.”
Altman went on to say that the company would “prioritize safety over privacy and freedom for teenagers” and was “not loosening any policies related to mental health.”
“We also care very much about the principle of treating adult users like adults,” he said, later adding that, “we are not the elected moral police of the world.”
AI chatbots like ChatGPT have come under fire, particularly in regard to safeguarding children against sexually explicit material and protecting them from self-harm. Earlier this week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation designed to improve protections for children amid rapidly unfolding AI.
