Last Update: July 14, 2023, 05:31 AM IST
Washington DC, United States of America (USA)
The potential dangers of AI have been top of mind for both AI researchers.
The US Federal Trade Commission is investigating OpenAI over misinformation and misuse of user data in its ChatGPT app. OpenAI will cooperate with the investigation
The US Federal Trade Commission is investigating OpenAI to determine whether its hugely popular ChatGPT app harms consumers by generating false information and whether its technology misuses user data. Microsoft-backed OpenAI was informed of the investigation in a 20-page questionnaire that asked the company to describe incidents in which users were unfairly offended, and to ensure that any of the company Also asked to share the effort so that this does not happen again.
The US regulator’s investigation was first reported by The Washington Post. Last November, the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT stunned the world as it demonstrated the power of large language models (or LLMs), a form of artificial intelligence known as generative AI that can generate human-like representations of content in a matter of seconds. Can brainstorm.
Amidst the wonders of the technology’s capabilities, came reports that models could present offensive, false or even downright strange material, sometimes referred to as “hallucinations”.
FTC Chairwoman Leena Khan addressed a congressional committee hearing on Wednesday, and although she didn’t mention the investigation, she told lawmakers that her agency had concerns about ChatGPT’s potentially abusive outputs.
“We’ve heard reports of people’s sensitive information being exposed in response to someone else’s inquiries,” Khan said.
“We have heard of defamation, defamatory statements, absolutely untrue things that are coming out. That’s the type of fraud and cheating that we’re concerned about,” she said.
According to the questionnaire, the FTC’s investigation primarily focused on how this aspect could harm users, but it also discussed OpenAI’s use of private data to build its world-leading models.
The company’s GPT-4 is the foundational technology behind its own ChatGPT as well as many other programs from companies that pay OpenAI a fee to access its model for their own use.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a tweet that he was sorry that news of the investigation leaked to the press, which “does not instill confidence.”
He added that “of course” OpenAI will work with the FTC and that “it is extremely important to us that our technology is secure and consumer-friendly, and we are confident that we will comply with the law.”
An FTC investigation does not necessarily lead to further action and the regulator may close the matter if it is satisfied with the target company’s response.
If the FTC discovers illegal or unsafe practices, it will seek remedial action and possibly prosecute.
OpenAI and the FTC did not respond to a request for comment.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – AFP,
