OpenAI Introduces a Team for Public-Informed AI Development

In an innovative step towards democratizing Artificial Intelligence (AI), OpenAI has announced the formation of a new team dedicated to incorporating public opinion into the future behavior and governance of AI models. The program that led to this initiative began last May, distributing 10 grants of €100,000 each to various global experiments that explore democratic inputs in shaping AI.

Objective of the Collective Alignment Team

The newly created 'Collective Alignment' team comprises a mix of researchers and engineers tasked with the challenge of designing systems which will include public input as a direction for AI models. This initiative comes with its own set of hurdles including the digital divide, managing polarized groups, ensuring diverse representation, and addressing public concerns about AI governance.

Collaborative Effort for AI's Future

OpenAI is looking to collaborate with external advisors and the recipients of the previous grants to pilot frameworks that weave the tested prototypes into the control of AI systems. To ensure a broad range of perspectives, OpenAI is actively seeking research engineers from different technical disciplines to contribute to this project.

Background and Ambitions of the Programme

This groundbreaking approach is the outcome of a public grant program initiated by OpenAI, aiming to democratize the rule-setting process for AI systems. The idea is founded on enabling a wide array of people to discuss, deliberate, and decide transparently on the outcomes regarding AI deployment.

Following the grants and subsequent experiments, OpenAI released the developed code by grant teams, along with summaries of their findings. Insights revealed participants' initial apprehensions about AI's role in policy-making, alongside a demand for clarity on AI's utilization in democratic processes. Post-discussion sessions, however, reflected a positive shift in sentiment, with an increase in optimism concerning the public's contribution to guiding AI evolution.

OpenAI, democracy, technology