M’SOFT X-RATED AI WARN
Staffer blows whistle
Microsoft’s artificial intelligence imaging tool — powered by technology from Sam Altman’s OpenAI — produces sexually explicit and violent images that could cause harm to the public, according to a concerned engineer at the tech giant.
Shane Jones, a principal software engineering manager who has worked at the Windows maker for the last six years, wrote letters on Wednesday to Microsoft’s board of directors and to the Federal Trade Commission in which he expressed concerns about the company’s “approach to responsible AI.”
Jones, who has defied orders from higher-ups to keep quiet about it and chose to alert lawmakers and federal regulators, specifically warned about potential abuses of Microsoft’s Copilot Designer, the AI image generator similar to OpenAI’s DALL-E text-toimage prompt that made its debut in March of last year.
He wrote that when testing Copilot Designer, he found several safety issues and flaws, including the software’s depictions of “demons and monsters alongside terminology related to abortion rights, teenagers with assault rifles, sexualized images of women in violent tableaus, and underage drinking and drug use.”
Jones told CNBC that he has been conducting these tests for the past three months.
He said that while his job title is officially unaffiliated with Copilot Designer, he is what’s known as a “red teamer” — a term designating an employee who voluntarily tests the company’s AI technology to look out for potential problems.
Alerted bosses
According to Jones, he alerted upper management to his concerns in December, but the company has resisted his recommendations that Copilot Designer be taken off the market so that corrections can be made.
Instead, Microsoft higherups referred Jones to OpenAI, the Microsoftbacked company which rolled out ChatGPT. Copilot Designer is powered by OpenAI technology.
Microsoft and OpenAI didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Earlier this year, Jones took his concerns to the Senate, writing a letter about the issue.
He also met with staffers from the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
On Wednesday, he raised those same concerns in a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan.