The most popular iteration of OpenAI's ChatGPT -- the generative AI chatbot that's taken the world by storm and amassed 100 million daily users -- "kinda sucks," according to Sam Altman, the company's CEO.
Altman struck the critical tone on an episode of The Lex Fridman Podcast, released Monday. The conversation covered a wide area related to generative AI and the torrent of hype and gold rush that's followed since the commercial release of ChatGPT in November, 2022.
Fridman called GPT-4 "amazing" and "historically impressive," and described the evolution of different iterations of the tech as fostering "a historic, pivotal moment" in the world.
In response, Altman cut a pensive figure, stroking his chin, and said "I think it kinda sucks." He explained his thinking with a comparison to how some people might look back on past versions of the iPhone and think that they're useless compared to current models. "I think it is an amazing thing," Altman said, giving his company some credit for its first commercial product, which it released for free. GPT-4, by contrast, is available starting at $20 a month.
Founders might empathize with Altman's chilly review of his company's technology. Every viable product has to start somewhere, and self-criticism can be harnessed in positive ways.
The context around Altman's comments is crucial, particularly as generative AI technology evolves at a rapid clip, Altman emphasized.
"At the time of GPT-3, people were like 'this is amazing, this is [a] marvel of technology,'... and it was. But now we have GPT-4, and you look at GPT-3 and you're like 'that's unimaginably horrible,' " Altman said.
Altman addressed the next version of the ubiquitous chatbot, presumably called GPT-5, saying "I expect the delta between 5 and 4 will be the same as between 4 and 3. It's our job to live in the future and remember that our tools are going to kind of suck looking back at them."
OpenAI's next big product doesn't have a release date, and the rumor-mill has been chugging along, with people on Reddit particularly buzzy with speculation about what the company will unleash and when. Asked by Fridman whether GPT-5 will be released this year, Altman said "I don't know. That's an honest answer."
Though he did say, "We will release an amazing new model this year." It's unclear what the company will call it if not GPT-5
How much time will need to elapse after the release of this forthcoming model for Altman to believe it "sucks" is a question nobody can answer.
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