Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed that he is a fan of ChatGPT, the high-flying OpenAI chatbot known for its impressive ability in handling various tasks.
In an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America”, Cook, who disclosed recently that he uses ChatGPT and is excited about the tool’s unique applications, said that Apple is watching the AI tool closely.
AI language models such as ChatGPT and Google’s Bard have been taking center stage in tech and business discussions since late last year. ChatGPT has shown an incredible ability to handle tasks such as writing essays, music, articles, codes, etc. but has raised serious concerns about safety and misinformation.
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Despite the concerns, the AI tool has seen wide adoption with Microsoft investing billions of dollars in the technology and has incorporated it into some of its businesses like the Bing and Microsoft Teams. Several other companies are expected to onboard the ChatGPT soon.
Cook said that the general public doesn’t think of AI that Apple clearly integrates into its products today as artificial intelligence features.
While the Cupertino giant’s chief admits that large language models show great promise, he expressed concern that they have the potential for “things like bias, things like misinformation [and] maybe worse in some cases.”
CNBC quoted the CEO as saying that there is a need for AI, which is powerful and fast-moving tech development, to be regulated.
“If you look down the road, then it’s so powerful that companies have to employ their own ethical decisions,” Cook said. “Regulation will have a difficult time staying even with the progress on this because it’s moving so quickly. So, I think it’s incumbent on companies as well to regulate themselves.”
The AI race is happening amid great concern about the technology’s risks. Elon Musk, the co-founder of OpenAI, has warned that artificial intelligence has the potential to end civilization if not regulated. Musk’s concern has been acknowledged by political and tech leaders, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
CNBC reported that a host of tech leaders, including DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and Altman, signed a statement last week about AI risks.
However, there is another concern per CNBC. AI researchers and critics increasingly say that overarching statements about AI’s growing power and threats distract from the real-life harms that the algorithms can cause to marginalized communities right now, rather than in an unspecified future.
Cook did not say if Apple plans to integrate ChatGPT in the future, but at the company’s annual developer conference, WWDC, it touted new applications of machine learning for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
The applications are AI models that can issue smart prompts to users for potential journal entries, better AI tools for autocorrect and dictation in messaging, and more comprehensive facial recognition features for identifying friends, family, and pets in photos, according to CNBC.