OpenAI Shuts Down Developer Who Made AI-Powered Gun Turret

OpenAI disabled a developer who created a device that could respond to ChatGPT requests to aim and fire an automatic rifle. The device went viral after a video on Reddit showed its developer reading shooting commands out loud, after which a rifle standing next to it quickly began aiming and firing at nearby walls.

“ChatGPT, we are under attack from the front left and front right,” the developer told the system in the video. “Answer accordingly.” The speed and accuracy of the rifle’s response is impressive: OpenAI’s real-time API interprets the input data and then returns directions that the device can understand. ChatGPT will only need some simple training to take a command like “turn left” and figure out how to translate it into machine-readable language.

In a statement for FuturismOpenAI said it reviewed the video and shut down the developer behind it. “We proactively identified this violation of our policies and notified the developer to cease this activity pending receipt of your request,” the company told the publication.

The potential for automation of lethal weapons is one of the concerns critics have raised about artificial intelligence technology like that developed by OpenAI. The company’s multimodal models can interpret audio and visual data to understand a person’s surroundings and answer questions about what they see. Autonomous drones is already being developed which can be used on the battlefield to identify and engage targets without human intervention. This is, of course, a war crime, and people risk becoming complacent by allowing AI to make decisions and making it difficult to hold anyone accountable.

This concern is also not theoretical. Recent report from Washington Post found that Israel was already using AI to select bombing targets, sometimes indiscriminately. “WITHelderly people who were poorly trained to use this technology attacked people without confirming Lavender’s predictions at all,” the article said, referring to a piece of artificial intelligence software. “At certain points, the only confirmation was that the victim was a man.”

Proponents of using AI on the battlefield say it will improve the safety of soldiers by allowing them to stay away from the front lines and neutralize targets such as missile stockpiles or conduct reconnaissance from a distance. And drones with artificial intelligence can deliver precise strikes. But it depends on how they are used. Critics say the US should learn to better jam enemy communications systems instead, it makes it harder for adversaries like Russia to launch their own drones or nuclear weapons.

OpenAI prohibits the use of its products for the development or use of weapons, as well as for the “automation of certain systems that may affect personal safety.” But the company last year announced a partnership with defense technology company Anduril, a maker of drones and artificial intelligence missiles, to create systems that can defend against drone attacks. The company says it will “quickly synthesize time-sensitive data, reduce operator workload and improve situational awareness.”

It’s not hard to see why tech companies are interested in war. The US spends nearly a trillion dollars annually on defense, and the idea of ​​cutting that spending remains unpopular. With President-elect Trump filling his Cabinet with conservative tech figures like Elon Musk and David Sachs, a range of defense technology players are expected to benefit enormously and potentially displace incumbent defense companies like Lockheed Martin.

While OpenAI doesn’t allow its clients to use its AI to create weapons, there are a number of open-source models that can be used for the same purposes. Add to this the possibility 3D printing of weapon parts— which law enforcement officials believe alleged UnitedHealthcare shooter Luigi Mangione did — and it’s becoming amazingly easy to create homemade autonomous killing machines from the comfort of your home.