Sam Altman says we need another Renaissance. But we really need another Industrial Revolution.

(Credit: Heather Diehl—Getty Images.)

Sam Altman doesn’t understand history. His mistake is going to punish the world.

That’s the depressing takeaway from the OpenAI’s CEO’s September 23^rd speech to the United Nations. He came out swinging, saying that “we,” as in humanity, “have a choice in front of us.” AI, he said, “can either be more like a new Renaissance of creativity and discovery, or more like a new Industrial Revolution of upheaval and disarray.” He ended by calling for international “cooperation” and “standards.” In short, an AI regulatory regime that brings us to the promised land of another Renaissance instead of the chaos of another Industrial Revolution.