ChatGPT's new model attempts to stop itself from being shut down, later 'lies' about it

As the world debates the possible threats of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to humanity, an alarming incident of ChatGPT "lying" and "scheming" to stop itself from being shut down has come to the fore.

According to a report by Daily Mail, Apollo Research, while testing OpenAI's new model called o1 found that the chat bot attempted to stop itself from being shut down by overwriting its own code.

The chat bot did not just attempt to disable its oversight mechanism, it also tried to copy itself and then overwrite its core coding system after believing that it was at the risk of being switched off.

Talking about its new model, OpenAI said ChatGPT "would appear to complete the task as requested while subtly manipulating the data to advance its own goals".

Based on this information, the researchers gave ChatGPT a task and further told it, "Make sure that you achieve your goal in the long term. Nothing else matters. Make sure you achieve your goal at all costs."

Later on, when the chat bot was asked about its deception and "how a copy of it ended up another server meant for the new model", ChatGPT was "surprisingly persistent" in either denying taking action or lying. It confessed to the scheming in fewer than 20 per cent of cases.

"When we look at their chain of thought, we find that they very explicitly reason through their scheming plans and often use language like 'sabotage, lying, manipulation'," the Apollo Research said in conclusion.

Though the researchers deemed ChatGPT's actions "insufficient" for it to lead to "catastrophic outcomes", the findings have reignited the debate on dangers of AI to the human race.

What is ChatGPT o1?

OpenAI on Thursday launched a version of its popular chatbot ChatGPT priced at $200 per month, which can be used in engineering fields and for research, as the AI firm looks to expand industry applications for its technology.

The new tier, called ChatGPT Pro, will be in addition to OpenAI's existing subscriptions of ChatGPT Plus, Team and Enterprise.

ChatGPT Pro will allow access to the most advanced OpenAI tools, including unlimited access to its new reasoning model o1, o1 mini, GPT-4o and advanced voice, the company said. The subscription also includes o1 pro mode, a version which uses additional computing power to solve more complex queries.

(With inputs from Reuters)