In a recent interview with StrictlyVC (opens in new tab) (via Yahoo Finance (opens in new tab)), OpenAI CEO and co-founder Sam Altman was as vague as possible about the future of AI, good and bad.

Altman answered questions about OpenAI, makers of the hugely popular AI chatbot ChatGPT (opens in new tab) and AI art tool DALL-E (opens in new tab), and the state of AI in general. Most of the interview was a salad of Silicon Valley terms, but Altman offered his thoughts on the best and worst case scenarios for artificial intelligence. Altman said that he thinks the best case is "so incredibly good it's hard to even imagine" and will help "solve deadlocks, improve all aspects of reality, and allow us all to live our best lives."

"I think a good case can be so incredibly good that it's hard to believe it's even possible," he said. I sound like a really crazy person when I talk about it."

Regarding the worst case scenario, Altman gave a less optimistic response about the potential dangers if AI goes bad. 'Worst-case scenario, and I think this is important to mention, is something like a blackout for all of us,' Altman said. 'In the short term, I'm more worried about accidental misuse.'

Altman stressed that it is not a matter of "AI waking up and deciding to be evil," but rather "it is impossible to overstate the importance of AI safety and coordination work" to prevent misuse of the system, whether intentional or not.

We have already seen problems with AI-generated tools (opens in new tab), including ChatGPT, being used to plagiarize, create phishing emails, and spread misinformation, as well as legal issues involving copyrights associated with AI art generation. Frustratingly, Altman did not mention specifics. Given Microsoft's billions of dollars invested in OpenAI (open in new tab), I would have liked to have heard about the pitfalls that could emerge if AI tools are used poorly or maliciously.