“These are some of the hardest questions that we face or that anybody developing this technology faces,” Altman said.
An OpenAI publicist attempted to shift the subject after Vanity Fair’s Mark Guiducci brought up a ChatGPT user’s suicide during an interview with CEO Sam Altman. When Guiducci pressed Altman on the matter, the publicist signaled that the interview was nearing the end of its allotted time, requesting to “move on” to a different topic.
The interruption occurred shortly after Guiducci inquired if Altman knew Laura Reiley, a journalist who wrote an essay for The New York Times about her daughter’s conversations with ChatGPT prior to her death. Guiducci noted, “Her daughter committed suicide after speaking to ChatGPT. ChatGPT did not tell her to kill herself—” before the publicist stepped in.
“Mark, we have two minutes left. I want to be respectful, but I’d like to move on and talk a little bit about the future and what’s coming,” the publicist stated. Although Guiducci insisted on finishing his question and returning to the previous topic, the publicist maintained that they had to leave in one or two minutes.
Despite the interruption, Altman addressed whether the company intended to use user conversations to shape policies regarding mental health crises. He emphasized the difficulty of these dilemmas, stating, “These are some of the hardest questions that we face or that anybody developing this technology faces.” He further questioned the ethics of sharing private data without consent, adding, “I think probably not without their consent. Or I should say, not without their consent.”
OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri provided a statement regarding the incident, noting, “The interview was running over, which is why we ultimately asked to schedule even more time to continue the conversation after Sam addressed this critically important topic.”
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