Understanding, Hype, and the Human Drive

A Personal Reflection on AI, Sam Altman, and David Deutsch

My fascination with OpenAI began when I became familiar with the concept of AI during college. Upon searching, I discovered this nonprofit organization dedicated to creating AI for humanity. At that time, I considered myself slightly left-leaning (or so I thought) and had limited knowledge about AI. Now, I wish I had read David Deutsch’s work earlier, as it would have given me more time to develop a new understanding of knowledge and evolution. But I suppose there’s no point in being upset about it now.

I worked as a barista at a cafe in Vancouver when an OpenAI employee visited during his trip to attend an AI conference held in the city. He must have found it odd that this young guy was so excited about the work of an organization that was relatively unknown at the time. However, this encounter gave me a personal “wow” moment and a story to share with others.

Like most tech enthusiasts, my fascination with Sam Altman, the visionary creator of AI, began around the time ChatGPT was first released. The hype surrounding this new technology enveloped me as well.

Recently, I started listening to the audiobook “The Optimist,” a biography of Sam Altman. I’ve only finished less than 10% of it, but the thought of hindsight bias and possibility of misunderstanding keeps popping up in my mind. I am assuming that the author must have presented parts of Sam’s life that she deemed important and told the story in a way that makes sense to her.

I do understand that our understanding of something or someone is built upon the information we have about that person and the interpretation of that information by our mind. There is a very real possibility that misinformation or incomplete information might distort my current understanding of him. Even though it would be foolish to believe that I understand him because there is very little I know about him. My experience suggests that it is better to say I don’t understand rather than to have a misunderstanding of something.

Despite this, I have picked up some behavioural traits from Sam Altman’s actions over the years. Sam Altman appears to have a strong understanding of interpersonal communication. He seems to excel at playing the game of power and rallying people behind him. He is very selective in making people believe in the hype surrounding AI. However, there is merit to this push, as hype can attract more funding, increasing the chances of success. Out of all the people currently pursuing AI, Sam is the one I would bet on. The team is driven by a leader who can navigate uncertainty and make the impossible happen. He embodies the traits that such a leader should possess. I would bet not on the idea but on the leader’s capacity to realize it. Belief, faith, and optimism are at the centre of it all.

“[David Deutsch’s] books have inspired me more than anyone else’s, and I think hold a big clue about how we get from here to AGI.” - Sam Altman

This is what Sam has to say about David Deutsch and his work.

Here is a quick overview of the key ideas of the book: https://www.pavisingh.com/the-quest-for-good-explanations/

Now, here is my speculation based on what I know. David Deutsch’s book highlights a few main points:

1. AI that follows the Turing principle is not true AI because we measure output, not what goes inside the algorithm of AI. If Sam has read that book carefully, which I believe he has, then he is very well aware of this idea. So why isn’t he mentioning this idea and pushing for current AI to be considered the actual AI? It likely has to do with creating the right environment to attract money from investors to support the creation of actual AI.

2. As per Deutsch, if something is possible according to the laws of physics, then the only thing preventing it from happening is the lack of knowledge. So, if knowledge is what is preventing it, by pushing for understanding, improving understanding, and human knowledge, we can create knowledge that can lead us to true AI. Now, Sam could be calling true AI as AGI, but we don’t know. To my knowledge, he has not specified the definition of AGI.

3. Deutsch argues that optimism for the future is important. Optimism increases the chances of something happening. By believing that something is doable, we actually increase the chances of it happening. Sam seems to understand this very well; he is quite positive about things.

4. Sam must have also understood the value of knowledge creation from David’s work and how creativity plays a central role in this process. He has mentioned resilience, creativity, and adaptability as key skills of the future, and I am not surprised why.

Both creativity and resilience are often misunderstood or poorly understood. Our perceptions of these traits are shaped by collective knowledge derived from borrowed advice or explanations. They are like black boxes that most people don’t understand. When we can’t comprehend something, we seek explanations or advice from others, which seems to be the common approach.

I don’t have a deep understanding of creativity, but I believe acknowledging our lack of understanding is the first step towards gaining it.

As Sam has mentioned, achieving something for the first time is much more challenging due to the uncertainty surrounding how to make it happen or even if it is possible. This requires resilience, immense determination, the ability to handle uncertainty, and the courage to explore uncharted paths.

As I have written earlier, the path from zero to one is different and far more difficult than going from one to two to three. Sam has earned my admiration in that. He seems to have that perfect combination of traits.

Hey, who am I to judge a man of his status, right? True, but who can stop that mind from wandering and seeking understanding?

Understanding, as David points out in his work, is the central idea behind our pursuit of creating knowledge. This is how we create new knowledge. If there is no path that exists, then we need to create a path. Creating a path requires the ability to understand the unknown or create new knowledge. Creativity plays a critical role in that.

Maybe one more reason for us to seek understanding.