Thirteen short months ago, an innocuous tweet from the head of a Silicon Valley nonprofit launched something called ChatGPT. But within five days, more than one million people had taken up Sam Altman's offer and tried out the new baby of OpenAI. Out were decades of grappling over the theoretical dangers of powerful artificial intelligence systems. In was a race to corner the market, with the parent companies of rivals Google and Facebook scrambling to match Microsoft’s $13 billion investment.
High-stakes drama ensued, with the firing and re-hiring of Altman. But at the heart of that Silicon Valley soap opera lies the bigger question: will 2023 prove a tipping point for humanity? If so, for better or for worse? Will artificial intelligence save lives or destroy them? Ensure new livelihoods or make us all redundant?
