--- title: "OpenAI’s New System Fantasizes About Artists and Writers Starving to Death After Losing Their Jobs" description: "OpenAI's powerful new chatbot is so sophisticated, it can imagine a future in which creatives, after becoming obsolete, start starving to death. " date: "2022-12-10" modified: "2022-12-10" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/openai-chatgpt-starving-artists" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "chatbot" - "chatgpt" - "OpenAI" - "the digest" --- # OpenAI’s New System Fantasizes About Artists and Writers Starving to Death After Losing Their Jobs ![OpenAI's New Chatbot Fantasizes About Obsolete Creatives Starving]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## In a World... OpenAI's [powerful new text generator ChatGPT]() is pretty impressive. But its agility at churning out almost-convincing text on nearly any conceivable topic is raising a [host of ethical concerns](), ranging from an internet filled with [bot-written spam]() to a future in which tech like it renders creative careers like [art and writing obsolete](). A particularly excoriating critic? Oddly, ChatGPT itself, which pulled no punches when we asked it to imagine a future in which AI replaces artists and writers, who starve to death after becoming obsolete. Here's how it tells the story: https://twitter.com/Jon_Christian/status/1600960782958661632 ## Querious On a technical level, generating rudimentary fiction on a prompt is indeed impressive. Exactly how far the tech will manage to get is unclear. On the one hand, it might hit a wall beyond which it's hard to compete with the analytical prowess of a human writer. On the other hand, if OpenAI and its peers can keep up the rate of progress they've [demonstrated over the past few years](), it does start to become conceivable that many creative endeavors could lose their commercial viability for humans. For now, the tech clearly still has its blind spots, as evidenced by a thread in which it repeatedly was [unable to correctly answer]() a fairly basic question about the animal kingdom — though to be fair, in that same thread ChatGPT did make some really hilarious human-like excuses for itself, so maybe it's already developing commonalities with human writers. Overall, ChatGPT's sophistication — anyone can currently sign up to play around with — is indeed incredible to behold, and worth messing around with to see if you can stump it. **More on AI:** [*There's a Problem With That AI Portrait App: It Can Undress People Without Their Consent*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()