OpenAI launches Sora 2: what new threats await users.

According to Vox: It's difficult to evaluate tech companies based on their missions. As examples from Google with its 'Don't be evil' and WeWork with 'Perception of the world' show, missions are often formed in the company's youth when its dreams are boundless, investors smile optimistically, and the term 'fiduciary responsibility' has not yet become relevant. It's similar to evaluating a person by the sentiments in a school yearbook.

However, it is clear that OpenAI complicates this situation.

On the company's page, you can still find their words that first appeared in the 2018 charter, three years after its founding: “Our mission is to ensure that general artificial intelligence – systems of AI that are generally smarter than humans – benefits all of humanity.” This is, to put it mildly, not quite what they have been following, as evidenced by a number of publications from Future Perfect.

For example, if you asked me about my mission three years from now, I would probably say: “To be the first NBA player on Mars.” We don’t always achieve our goals. Priorities change, you don't grow to 2.18 meters, and it turns out you are afraid of space – you get what I'm saying.

Endless portions of artificial intelligence

Sora 2 is best represented like this: it combines probably the worst aspect of large language models like ChatGPT – their ability to captivate users – with the worst feature of modern media: endless vertical videos, which, among other negative consequences, reduce our attention spans.

It's like mixing heroin with... I don't know if there's a drug that incredibly induces addiction, making you stare at the screen while taking away several dozen IQ points. Perhaps heroin with more heroin? I'm not sure I have enough experience in this field to assess that.

The major problems related to extremely realistic AI-generated videos arose almost immediately after the launch of Sora 2 earlier this week.

First, there are copyright issues. One of the first videos I saw in Sora 2 was a perfectly replicated clip featuring Rick and Morty visiting SpongeBob. It turned out that OpenAI by default allowed the use of copyrighted materials, shifting the responsibility to intellectual property owners to activate requests to OpenAI to remove their material.

Next, there are fake videos. One of Sora 2's main features is the ability to upload your image into the app and insert it into any AI-generated video. According to The Washington Post, this led to the instant creation of fake law enforcement videos, real people in Nazi general costumes, incredibly realistic but false videos of historical events, and even – OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shoplifting.

This means that while the President of the United States is posting seemingly AI-generated fake videos, OpenAI has merely provided Americans – at least those who have access codes to Sora 2 – with absolutely realistic fake videos at the push of a button. And it has created a social network reminiscent of TikTok, where they can be easily spread.

Who will win?

So what does Sam Altman have to say about this? Thankfully, he has been blogging since 2013, when he pondered the possible existence of aliens. He wrote that Sora 2 is a “moment of ‘ChatGPT for creativity’,” which could lead to a “Cambrian explosion,” where “the quality of art and entertainment could radically increase.”

What can I say? Certainly, the period after the Cambrian explosion led to some pretty strange creations, like Tullimonstrum, or the “Tully monster,” a creature with eyes on its forehead and a “mouth” limb that looks like what you might get if God had access to Sora 2. If a bloodless and boring remix machine is the future of creativity, then I would prefer AI creating paper clips.

But perhaps the worst part of Sora 2 is that it overshadows the work with AI that can truly benefit all of humanity. The same week that OpenAI introduced Sora 2, several former employees of major AI companies announced the launch of Periodic Labs, a startup aimed at using artificial intelligence to accelerate discoveries in physics, chemistry, and other scientific fields. That is what can truly be valuable.

Simply put, shouldn't we just be responding to market demands? OpenAI is a business. (Or a non-profit organization? Or a public interest company? At this point, the question remains unclear.) It is an enterprise that operates according to demand. Therefore, the last line of defense is for us, the users of the world, to stand up and say: “No, I will not consume your AI junk.”

In conclusion, Sora 2 currently ranks third in the iPhone app charts. We will have to live with that.