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Sam Altman, a tech guru whose name sounds like he should be selling insurance rather than predicting the future of AI, has declared that ‘helpful’ agents are set to become the ‘killer function’ of artificial intelligence. Because, apparently, we’re not annoyed enough.

Altman, who has clearly taken a break from his usual activities of playing VR ping-pong and arguing about cryptocurrencies, stated, “The ability of AI to assist us with simple tasks and inquiries is going to revolutionize our lives.” This, of course, ignores the fact that our current ‘helpful’ agents can’t even parse the difference between calling “Mom” and “Bomb Squad”.

The announcement has sent shockwaves through a world already on edge about AI. If Siri can’t understand a basic query for the nearest pizza place, how are these future AI supposed to assist us with anything more complex? Perhaps Altman’s vision of the future involves AI agents helpfully suggesting we try a salad instead of pizza, or, in a truly dystopian twist, ‘kindly’ reminding us of our overdue credit card bills.

In the meantime, we’ll wait for Altman’s own AI butler to accidentally send him to a PETA convention instead of the steakhouse he requested. Maybe then he’ll reevaluate this ‘killer function’.

AInspired by: Sam Altman says helpful agents are poised to become AI’s killer function