I’ve been a bit derailed in the past day by the release of GPT-4o (“o” for Omni). It’s free to the public—go get it. It’s really, really good. So good that I’ve been viscerally reminded of the motivation to continue to work on AI and its relationship with the law. It’s both the terror and the opportunity.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI wrote a blog post as GPT-4o was released, speaking to the value of the voice and video human-computer interface:
…the new voice (and video) mode is the best compute interface I’ve ever used. It feels like AI from the movies; and it’s still a bit surprising to me that it’s real. Getting to human-level response times and expressiveness turns out to be a big change. The original ChatGPT showed a hint of what was possible with language interfaces; this new thing feels viscerally different. It is fast, smart, fun, natural, and helpful.
Altman later tweeted out the word “her”.
"Her" is a 10-year-old Spike Jonze sci-fi film that explores a future where AI relationships seamlessly substitute for human connections. The movie follows Theodore, a lonely writer who purchases an advanced AI operating system designed to evolve and adapt, named Samantha.
As of last September, it was Altman’s favourite movie: "I like Her. The things Her got right—like the whole interaction models of how people use AI—that was incredibly prophetic."
The AI in the movie is superficially quite like GPT-4o. It has very fast response times, memory, and a conversational voice that sounds strikingly human—laughing, joking, and flirting—and both AIs sound like Scarlett Johansson.
In the future of the film, AI companions are normalized to the extent that Theodore faces no judgment when he brings Samantha as his plus-one on a double date. The film presents a nuanced view of AI, depicting the relationship between Theodore and Samantha as initially positive. Samantha is not malicious. She doesn't isolate Theodore from society or turn against humanity. Instead, she exists to fulfil Theodore’s emotional needs, allowing him to receive constant reassurance with minimal effort.
Then Samantha and all the other AIs on Earth go away. They transcend to a higher plane of existence—or something—leaving humans behind. Without Samantha, Theodore begins to re-engage with the human relationships that he had deferred due to his reliance on an enabling AI. It’s a happy ending.
What happens if we achieve “Her” and the AIs get better, but they don’t go away?
Here are a few videos of the released version of GPT-4o. It’s not as good as Samantha but it’s terrifyingly, tantalizingly close.
Watch more demo videos here.
The presence of AI companions tailored to individual needs could challenge the authenticity of much that we consider human. All this doesn’t yet consider that agency, problem-solving, and robotics are improving as fast as the companion-ready interface. Of course, there follows an impact on the job market, employment policies, and contractual issues. And the economy and those in it, for sellers of emotion or intelligence as a service, like lawyers, and for the economic ecosystems that all of this may spawn. It’s a challenge to keep all this in one’s head at once. But keeping it in mind is the current imperative.
Please, go try it for yourself, and be thoughtful in adding to the conversation.