Sam Altman is worried some young people have an 'emotional over-reliance' on ChatGPT when making decisions – Business Insider
Even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman thinks people should cool it with how much they’re relying on ChatGPT for decision-making.
Altman said there was a worrying amount of “emotional over-reliance” on ChatGPT, especially among young people, when speaking at a banking conference hosted by the Federal Reserve this week.
“People rely on ChatGPT too much,” Altman said. “There’s young people who say things like, ‘I can’t make any decision in my life without telling ChatGPT everything that’s going on. It knows me, it knows my friends. I’m gonna do whatever it says.’ That feels really bad to me.”
Altman said that over-reliance on ChatGPT for decision-making was “a really common thing with young people.”
Young people are increasingly using AI chatbots and companions in their daily life.
72% of teens have used an AI companion, according to a Common Sense Media report. Half of those surveyed said they trusted their companion’s advice at least “somewhat.”
Younger kids appear to be more trusting of AI companions, according to the survey — with 27% of the respondents ages 13-14 saying they trusted the technology somewhat compared to 20% of respondents aged 15-17. Within the group that said they trust their AI companions, 23% said they trust them “quite a bit” or “completely.”
Speaking about his concerns of over-reliance on AI at the conference, Altman said that OpenAI was “trying to understand what to do about it.”
“Even if ChatGPT gives great advice, even if ChatGPT gives way better advice than any human therapist, something about collectively deciding we’re going to live our lives the way AI tells us feels bad and dangerous,” Altman said.
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