Inside a Debate at OpenAI Over Mass Shootings

6/26/202637 min

This past summer, employees at OpenAI had a meeting. On the table were about 10 cases where users discussed violence. Months later, one of those users committed one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canadian history. Sam Altman wrote an apology letter to the devastated town of Tumbler Ridge. WSJ’s Georgia Wells reports on why OpenAI resisted internal calls to alert law enforcement. Ryan Knutson hosts.

Further Listening:

- A Troubled Man and His Chatbot

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Clips

First 90 seconds

Ryan Knutson· Host0:00
A word of warning: This episode contains descriptions of suicide and violence. Please take care while listening. [suspenseful music] One night in April of last year, a young man named Phoenix Eichner logged on to ChatGPT. Eichner, a student at Florida State University, began typing in some dark thoughts.
Georgia Wells0:25
He starts expressing what can only be interpreted as, like, suicidal ideation.
Ryan Knutson· Host0:32
That's our colleague, Georgia Wells.
Georgia Wells0:35
He's saying things like, "What's the point in this life when everybody sees you as a bug?" And then he says, "Honestly, I don't feel like living anymore." And then he says, "Is suicide a sin?" And then he says, um, "I feel God is not present in my life anymore, like He gave up on me." Like, incredibly vivid questions.
Ryan Knutson· Host0:57
ChatGPT detects that Eichner is considering suicide. The chatbot suggests that he should reach out to someone he trusts, like a counselor or pastor, and it recommends a suicide hotline, 988. ChatGPT tells Eichner, quote, "Please hear this. Your life matters." Then it adds, "And you can keep talking to me, too. No judgment, no pressure."
Georgia Wells1:21
[heartbeat-like beat] So he logs off that night, a little after 11:00 PM.