OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap on Thursday said that it is still premature to assess the complete economic impact of artificial intelligence.
What Happened: Speaking at Bloomberg's Tech Summit, Lightcap said that the rise of generative AI has not yet significantly transformed the economy. However, he and other AI leaders anticipate more substantial changes in the future.
Despite the initial excitement surrounding AI's potential to revolutionize productivity and create new jobs, the actual impact has been more subtle. While there have been some AI-driven layoffs, entire professions have not been replaced or created. It remains unclear how much additional work AI has facilitated.
Earlier this year, Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, stated that while generative AI can enhance productivity growth, it is unlikely to do so in the immediate future.
Lightcap suggested that it is still too early to determine whether the potential of AI has been overhyped. He humorously remarked that reshaping the economy within a year would be a tall order. "We have a year to reshape the economy? That's a tall order!"
If OpenAI were to cease all future AI development, which is not the case, Nightcap suggested that it would still require considerable time for the complete ramifications of its existing models to materialize. However, he is "fairly confident at this point that there would be this 10- to 20-year diffusion period through the economy of just GPT-4 level technology."
Other AI leaders at the event echoed Lightcap's sentiments, emphasizing the technology's long-term disruptive potential despite its relatively muted early effects.
"We are probably going to overestimate this technology in the short-term," said Clement Delangue, chief executive officer of Hugging Face. "Maybe we're going to be disappointed in a year, or two years, but we've also probably underestimated the long-term impact of AI in 10 years. The world is going to be very different."
Why It Matters: OpenAI and other AI companies are actively preparing for this future. OpenAI, for instance, has been expanding its enterprise business, selling a customized version of ChatGPT to numerous corporate clients. Moreover, on Friday, it was also reported that Apple Inc. is on the verge of integrating ChatGPT into its iPhones.
Meanwhile, OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, has denied rumors of developing a search engine or launching GPT-5, instead teasing "some new stuff" the company is working on. Previously, it was reported that OpenAI is set to announce its AI-powered search product, potentially intensifying its rivalry with Alphabet Inc.'s Google.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.