SAN FRANCISCO — For decades, artificial intelligence researchers wary of the technology’s future power have told a parable about paper clips. An AI system asked to manufacture as many as possible, the story goes, could decide that goal requires using every human on Earth as raw material.
The tale has become a cliché in tech circles, but its lesson that powerful AI systems following benign instructions could cause unintended damage gained new relevance this week after an incident at ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.
