THE MAKING OF AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM: NO ESCAPE FROM BIG CAPITAL

The spate of races for technological advancement has been transforming humanity's history. From the Space Race and the Nuclear Arms Race to the Industrial Revolution, these races have shaped the trajectory of human growth. With such progress, the race to modernisation has also witnessed a transition, and today, these races are being observed in sectors like green energy, genetic modifications, and the artificial intelligence domain. 

In this blog, I have focused on the latter domain. The newest talk of the town, Deepseek, is the latest entry amongst the already very famous names of OpenAI, DeepMind, Llama, Gork and Anthropic. This development is significant as it marks China's entry into fierce competition. It reminds us that this race is transcontinental and global, with the potential to fundamentally change contemporary notions of technology, geopolitics, and society.

The AI Paradox: 

In a quest to learn more about the Generative AI race, I stumbled upon the book Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT & the race that will change the world, written by Parmy Olson. The book is a notable addition to contemporary literature on AI and has been awarded the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of 2024. However, the growth in the context of AI has been so fast-paced that, as I write, less than a year after the publication, the author should think of writing a part two of the book, with a nuanced subheading. 

Moving on, the book's central theme highlights the journey of two different individuals in the quest for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). We see how they begin with love and compassion for the betterment of human life, seeking AGI. But, over time, this journey has manifested into the necessity of mercy and inevitably bowing down to large corporations for the realisation of the “Dream”: viz., losing control step by step of the ethos, original vision of the company. The story is the culmination of the “Faustian bargain” of the founders of the big tech corporations and how their battle is now enmeshed with the desire for corporate supremacy!

ChatGPT’s widespread and quick adoption by the public was a tipping point and a significant breakthrough, sending shock waves throughout Silicon Valley. The book resembles a thriller and feels like an investigative journalism story.  It explores the themes of technological ambition, ethical dilemmas, and the human stories behind OpenAI (owned mainly by Microsoft) and Google’s DeepMind. The focus is on parallel biographical accounts of the founders of these platforms vis-à-vis their companies and their evolution. 

Demis Hassabis, co-founder of DeepMind, grew up in the UK, born to migrant parents, had an orthodox religious upbringing, was obsessed with games and simulations, academically proficient with a doctorate, and is now a Nobel Prize Laureate. On the other hand, OpenAI was founded by Sam Altman: born in the USA, openly gay man in a Jewish family, loves poker and is a college dropout! Two very contrasting personalities begin with a humanitarian and altruistic vision of making AGI, yet end up accepting the terms of Silicon Valley giants like Meta. The book presents the story of the AI gold rush, which gave the world DeepMind/OpenAI while raising questions of ethics, regulations, and power plays. 

Personalities such as Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Peter Thiel have been key players whose vision and decisions have shaped this journey. Olson also acknowledges the interventions by individuals such as Margaret Mitchell and Timnit Gebru regarding bias and ethics in AI. That said, the book continues to focus on the two main heroes, and other actors are mostly named in passing.

Olson above all makes a compelling argument in favour of focusing on the ethics board and the alignment issues alongside AI’s evolution. The tug-of-war between regulations and innovation should not be at the price of instances of privacy breach and the loss of control to rogue actors. The author argues that the scope of such regulations should be dynamic, in conformity with the constant updates to the arena. 

Conclusion:

The book encapsulates an important journey forged in humanity's history through the lens of the race for “Supremacy.” It is indeed a detailed account of the reasons within the current tech ecosystem of why they have eventually bowed down to the tech giants. The book serves as essential reading and a great introductory read for anyone interested in the recent evolution of generative AI and its future. 

The AI race may seem fast to the non-experts, whereas the experts may point out quite to the contrary. There are also a few who argue that AI is ‘snake oil’ and overhyped, even though such assessment requires subjectivity. However, eventually time will tell if it takes 5 years or 10 years to achieve AGI or way longer. The rungs on the generality ladder of AI are not yet well defined and as of now they are characterized by a function of cross-sectional advances in research in deep neural networks, machine learning, and access to capital.