The Status of Artificial Intelligence and the Role of Privacy in Human Rights and Self-Affirmation: Criticisms and Calls for Action

The letter calls for not just OpenAI but all AI companies to commit to not punishing employees who speak out about their activities. It urges the creation of “verifiable” ways for workers to give feedback on their activities. “Ordinary whistleblower protections are insufficient because they focus on illegal activity, whereas many of the risks we are concerned about are not yet regulated,” the letter reads. “Some of us reasonably fear various forms of retaliation, given the history of such cases across the industry.”

The letter says that while they believe in AI’s potential to benefit society, they also see risks, such as the entrenchment of inequalities, manipulation and misinformation, and the possibility of human extinction. While there are important concerns about a machine that could take over the planet, today’s generative AI has more down-to-earth problems, such as copyright violations, the inadvertent sharing of problematic and illegal images, and concerns it can mimic peoples’ likenesses and mislead the public.

The letter’s signees claim current whistleblower protections “are insufficient” because they focus on illegal activity rather than concerns that, they say, are mostly unregulated. The Department of Labor states that if an employee is reporting wage or discrimination, they can be protected by the whistle blower laws which means they can not be demoted or laid off. “Some of us reasonably fear various forms of retaliation, given the history of such cases across the industry. We are not the first to speak about these issues.

OpenAI’s Scott Altman: How Much Should You Tell Us About The OpenAI Project? Contact Will Knight on wak.01.01 or [email protected]

Are you a former or current employee at OpenAI? We’d like to hear from you. Using a nonwork phone or computer, contact Will Knight at [email protected] or securely on Signal at wak.01.

Last November, Altman was fired by OpenAI’s board for allegedly failing to disclose information and deliberately misleading them. After a very public tussle, Altman returned to the company and most of the board was ousted.