- OpenAICTO Meera Murthy spoke on the topic of AI-driven job cuts.
- AI will eliminate some creative jobs, “but maybe they shouldn't have been there in the first place,” he said.
- Writer Ed Zetron called Marathi's remarks “a declaration of war against creative labor”.
OpenAI CTO Meera Murthy this month reflected on the decline in AI-powered jobs, suggesting that some workers — particularly creatives — have jobs replaced by AI that “wouldn't have been there in the first place.” Should have.”
In doing so, she not only angered people who are at risk of losing their livelihoods due to technological advancements but also showed that she doesn't even know what AI is good for.
During an event at Dartmouth on June 8, Murthy, in conversation with university trustee Jeffrey Blackburn, discussed the AI behind ChatGPT. and DALL-E as technology advances, as well as safety and ethical considerations.
When the conversation turned to how AI could disrupt artists' processes, Murthy said he believes the technology will soon be used primarily as a collaborative tool to help more people. will be used. become creative
“Some creative jobs will probably disappear,” Murthy said, “but maybe they shouldn't have been there in the first place — you know, if the content that comes out of it isn't very high quality.”
In particular, Murthy himself took up the topic of AI-driven job losses, suggesting that the workers whose creations helped train AI into today's conditions are jobs that no longer exist. should be
Ed Zetron, author and CEO of EZPR, a national tech and business PR agency, told Business Insider that Murthy's approach is a result of management's distance from the people who actually make things. are
“The people who have been losing their jobs to AI so far have been the contract workers who have helped fill gaps in organizations — essentially — that are now going to be filled by deep mid-level sloppiness, those people. ordered by those who don't understand the businesses they're in, to fill a need they neither care nor appreciate, to act kind of lazy. A poison that will erode the edges of companies,” Zetron said.
Zitron added that he was tired of people “who don't create, write or draw or paint or sing or make a statement about what the creative arts should be, or how they should be conducted.” would do.”
“These people think of creativity as a problem-solver,” he continued.
When Business Insider reached out to OpenAI representatives, they declined to comment, instead expanding on Murthy's thoughts by pointing to a June 22 post on X.
How artists are actually approaching AI
Boris Eldagsen is a photographer and visual artist who embraces AI. Last year, as part of an effort to show how impossible it is to tell the difference between “real” and AI-generated artwork, it won the World Photography Organization's Sony Award with an OpenAI-assisted image. Entered – and won – the World Photography Awards. DALL-E2. He ultimately declined the award.
Where in the past he was “a solo instrument” working to create new work, Aldagson told BI that he now collaborates with AI technology, seeing himself as more of a conductor while training data is a “huge, Acts as “Anonymous Choir”. The task is to “bring it into some kind of harmony and make sense of it.”
That said, he still disagrees with Murthy.
“I think it's a pity, and I can't feel any sympathy here. To me, his comments are a mixture between naive and arrogant,” Eldagsen told BI. “I think she hasn't really thought about it, or she can't put herself in the position of people who are afraid of losing their jobs.”
To say that jobs that could be eliminated by AI shouldn't exist in the first place, Eldagsen said, is “just nonsense,” and to explain why those jobs could be eliminated, Marathi said. There is no pass. A great grasp of how and why people make or use things.
“Most of the things we produce are not of high quality,” Eldagsen said. “We have fast food, we have trashy TVs, we have crappy products that you can use once, and Then you throw them away.” “All these things shouldn't be there, but these are all jobs that some people have to do. They pay the rent, they make a living – and why should you be so arrogant and say that you do that? Should” not exist?
Miles Austry, an artist, photographer, and writer, told Business Insider that Murthy's comments came across as “derogatory.”
Like Eldagsen, Astray made AI the focus of one of his artworks this month: He turned Eldagsen's stunt on its head and won third place in an AI art competition with a real-life image he created. had shot a flamingo.
Misguided said he doesn't buy the narrative of creativity being fostered by AI. Technology has the potential to free up time, make some repetitive tasks more efficient, and give artists more space to think about what makes them creative, he said, but Asking the computer to do the creative work cheapens the process. and ultimately produces an end result that is a regurgitated copy of the data on which the AI was trained, not Example of human creative expression.
“You need to sit down with your piece of paper and your paintbrush and start painting — that's how you improve your skills,” Ostry said. “I think those are the companies that will really thrive, that will use it as a tool to increase productivity and cut corners.”
Ultimately, Astray said he sees the tension between tech and creativity as less about simplifying the creative process and more about companies leveraging technology to outsource jobs where they now need creative workers. There is no need to employ force.
“I think we need to have an honest public debate about the benefits as well as the disadvantages and risks of AI technology,” Astray said. “But she wasn't doing that.”
'Moderates want them'
“AI tools can lower barriers and allow anyone to create an idea,” Murthy wrote in his June 22 post on X. “At the same time, we have to be honest and admit that AI will automate some tasks. Just like spreadsheets have been replaced. Things for accountants and bookkeepers, AI tools to write online ads. Or can do things like create simple images and templates.”
He added that a key part of the conversation about AI-driven job loss, particularly among the creative professions, is “recognizing the difference between temporary creative work and the kind that have lasting meaning and value in society.” add up.”
“By having AI tools take over the more repetitive or mechanical aspects of the creative process, such as generating SEO metadata, we can free up human creators to focus on higher-level creative thinking and selection,” Murthy wrote. . “It allows artists to take control of their vision and focus their energy on the most important parts of their work.”
But not everyone is convinced.
“During the last couple of years of AI hype, OpenAI and its ilk have been very careful not to attack Labor directly,” Zitron told BI. “What Murthy is saying here — that some creative jobs 'shouldn't exist in the first place' — is a clear declaration of war against creative labor, clearly stating that OpenAI believes that not only creativity has such parts. which are 'broken' but that OpenAI will be part of the process of 'fixing' them.”
Zitron said he believes AI is approaching the top of the S-curve, with limited progress remaining, and that Murati, Sam Altman, and the rest of OpenAI are “keen to suggest that We're going to have an AGI or some great machine that can do the work of a hundred thousand people.”
Such a proposal keeps the money flowing as companies clamor for the latest version of a promising new technology that proponents swear will make their workplaces faster, more efficient and cheaper to run. will make — all the buzzwords needed to keep investors interested, even if it means they're producing a subpar product.
“Production from AI is modest, barely rising to the standard the task requires,” Zitron said. “But the people in charge are often so removed from the process that they just want something trivial, even if it makes the rest of the project worse.”