Sam Altman: Don't treat AI like a 'religious force'

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has expressed his discomfort with people treating artificial intelligence as a religious force. In an X post, Altman stated that he is "very uncomfortable" with people ascribing religious force or surrendering human judgment to AI models, deeming it a significant safety issue. This comes after a recent article in The New York Times highlighted Anthropic's meetings with religious leaders about their AI models.

Anthropic's cofounder, Chris Olah, reportedly held secret discussions with religious figures to explore the consciousness of Claude and ways to instill morality in more powerful AI systems. Altman's comments may be a response to Anthropic's efforts, as the two companies have had a contentious relationship in the past. Despite these tensions, other tech giants like Meta, Google, and Amazon have also reached out to religious leaders to discuss AI safety and ethics.