OpenAI's human rights lead: What military AI could do 'keeps me up at night' (fortune.com)

Sarah Yager has taken on a groundbreaking role as OpenAI's first human rights and responsible deployment lead, focusing on the military applications of AI. Speaking at the ScaleUp:AI conference, Yager expressed her deep concerns over potential military uses of AI, particularly regarding targeting and autonomous weapons. Her appointment follows OpenAI's contract with the Department of War to deploy advanced AI systems, a deal that has been critiqued for its lack of fundamental ethical guardrails, especially after the controversial fallout with Anthropic, which sought to impose stricter limitations on military usage. Yager aims to instill human rights principles within AI development in military contexts, a challenging task given the rapid pace of AI integration into global military operations. She has worked directly with researchers to improve AI responses in line with international law, notably the Geneva Conventions. Yager underscores the urgency of diversifying perspectives in AI development, warning that the current demographic in tech could disproportionately influence the power dynamics of AI applications. She advocates for a dialogue centered on human rights, asserting that society should not rely on AI companies to define ethical standards, as this could lead to unchecked interpretations of morality within powerful technologies.