Q Star

The recent firing of Sam Altman from his position as CEO of OpenAI has sparked a lot of speculation about the reasons behind his departure. One theory is that he was pushing the company in a direction that the board was not comfortable with, possibly related to the development of their Q* model (pronounced "Q Star"), which is said to have the ability to combine large language models with mathematical skills. This raises interesting questions about the potential of artificial intelligence and its ability to adapt and extend its knowledge in ways that humans do in the real world.

Unlike humans, who are capable of learning and adapting throughout their lives, computers and robots are typically taught to learn a specific set of skills and then perform calculations based on that knowledge. However, this method has its limitations, as demonstrated by the fact ChatGPT once identified the parents of some famous person but had no clue who their child was. This suggests that current AI systems lack the ability to reason and understand in the same way that humans do.

That being said, the next logical step for companies like OpenAI, and by extension Microsoft, would be to try and incorporate this capability into their AI systems, allowing their AI technologies to not only "ingest and predict" but to actually consider and construct connections among data points in a more human-like way. In fact, this could potentially be the very first glimpses of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), which would have far-reaching implications for society and the future of humanity.

Meanwhile, the world of quantum computing is also making rapid advancements. These computers work with qubits, which can be anything between a one and a zero, allowing them to process vast amounts of data and perform calculations that would take current supercomputers thousands of years to complete, if they could ever do it at all. This technology has the potential to revolutionize computing and solve complex problems, but it could also be used to break existing security encryptions. This makes the technology a double-edged sword in many ways, so it stands to reason many corporations would keep their findings secret for now.

It's possible that the recent speculations about OpenAI and Sam Altman's unexpected departure (and return) are related to the company's ambitions in this area. Maybe, the Q in Q* stands for "Quantum". This would at least clarify the story that has unfolded so far, including the fact that OpenAI's board now has the authority to overrule any decision made by the CEO. It's clear that Altman is committed to pushing the boundaries of what is possible with AI and is not afraid to take risks. Whether or not he was fired due to his ambitions in this area remains to be seen, but it's certainly an intriguing story.

P.s. This article marks the beginning of audio-supported articles, for those who prefer listening over reading. 😁