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Dave Eggers blasted ChatGPT to OpenAI staff
Invited by Sam Altman to speak to about 200 OpenAI employees, Dave Eggers said ChatGPT was hurting teachers and students' writing.
Image: The Verge
Last year, Sam Altman invited author Dave Eggers to speak to around 200 OpenAI staffers. Instead of offering advice on writing or creativity, Eggers used the visit to sharply criticize ChatGPT, according to the Financial Times.
Eggers, whose work includes novels, screenplays, journalism, and the founding of McSweeney’s as well as multiple schools and nonprofits supporting writers and the arts, reportedly told employees that the technology was damaging education.
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“The effect of ChatGPT on educators' lives is catastrophic. Whether you intended to do it or not, you’ve made every teacher’s life infinitely more difficult than it was two years ago. So, just let that settle in… If students are using it to compose, which is the biggest tragedy of all, they’ll never learn to write. And their voice is stolen from them. They’ll never have the ability to say their truth and tell their own story. And that’s silencing an entire generation or two.”
The criticism is in line with Eggers' long-running views on the tech industry. His best-selling novel The Circle is a pointed critique of Silicon Valley, and he has previously described AI-generated writing as “pastiche nonsense.” As The Verge notes, Altman likely knew the invitation would not produce a friendly endorsement.
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via The Verge
