OpenAI safety executive calls for responsible AI development at Bilibili event

In an event hosted by and streamed to Bilibili, researcher Lilian Weng Li called AI a ‘double-edged sword’ that must be trained properly

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A researcher from OpenAI spoke about the need for the responsible development of AI to ensure safety during a Chinese conference hosted by Bilibili. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:00pm, 5 Nov 2024

A safety executive at OpenAI made a rare speech at an event hosted by a major Chinese video streaming platform, calling for the responsible development of artificial intelligence (AI).

Lilian Weng Li, a research vice-president on AI safety at the Microsoft-backed start-up, said at an event hosted by Chinese streaming platform Bilibili last week that AI is a “double-edged sword” for humans.

“It brings convenience and challenges, and our involvement is critical,” she said. “Let’s join hands to create a smart and responsible AI buddy.”

San Francisco-based OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, does not make its services available in China – including Hong Kong and Macau, where regulatory approval is not needed, unlike the mainland – placing it on a short list that includes US-sanctioned countries such as Iran, North Korea and Russia. It further cut off access in July by preventing access from China to its application programming interface.

Lilian Weng Li, OpenAI’s research vice-president of safety, called for responsible development of AI at an event hosted by Chinese streaming platform Bilibili last week. Photo: Bilibili

Weng, an information systems graduate from Peking University in Beijing who earned her doctorate at Indiana University Bloomington, had worked at major US tech companies such as Facebook and Dropbox before joining the then-fledgling OpenAI as a research scientist in 2018, according to her LinkedIn profile.