Tech leaders are urging caution on AI

Happy Thursday readers. I'm Paayal Zaveri, and today I'm finally giving ChatGPT a chance. The AI chatbot has been hugely popular over the last few months. It seems like it can do everything from have an intelligent-sounding conversation to write music to code. 

I've been a little skeptical, though. Yes, it can do a lot, but its responses are not always the most accurate. I thought I'd test it out by having ChatGPT write a short intro for this newsletter. It took a few tries but here's what it came up with:

"Welcome to "10 Things in Tech" - your daily dose of the latest tech news. Stay up-to-date with the top 10 tech stories of the day, handpicked for you. Today is Thursday, March 30th, 2023." 

Not bad! It's clear the technology is progressing rapidly. 

But as ChatGPT and other generative AI tools get more and more impressive, it's also highlighting how big the ramifications can be. That's got many people asking for caution until we're fully aware of the risks and can put guardrails in place. 

That's what our first tech story of the day is about. Let's dive in. 

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1. Tech leaders are calling for a pause on AI. Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, researchers at Alphabet's DeepMind, and other AI leaders are calling for a pause on training AI models more powerful than OpenAI's GPT-4. 

• In an open letter, they said further development should be paused until we're "confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable." The letter also urges AI companies to create and implement a set of shared safety protocols for AI development.
• That is important as worries mount about AI's impact on the job market. A new report from Goldman Sachs warned that 25% of the current workforce could be substituted by AI, while two-thirds could see some degree of automation to their jobs.
• With an absence of regulation, how it turns out will all depend on which company wins. That could be OpenAI, Google, or a startup that outpaces all of them, my colleague Hasan Chowdhury writes. 

My colleague Emilia David looked at why Elon Musk and other tech leaders are right: AI needs to slow down.

In other news:

2. AI is giving rise to a new job: prompt engineer. One positive of AI is that new kinds of jobs are being created. Prompt engineers are in high demand, and these roles can have salaries as high as $335,000. Here's what the job entails. 

3. Regulators are getting stricter on tech M&A. The DOJ is reportedly planning to block Adobe's $20 billion bid for Figma. It's just the latest in a series of crackdowns on big tech deals. If it continues, it could have broad implications for the tech M&A landscape, my colleague April Joyner and I report. 

4. Fintech has a fraud problem. Fintech tools like Venmo and Cash App make it easier to bank, invest, and make payments. They also open the door to more fraud. Dive into fintech's messy relationship with fraud. 

5. Driverless Teslas are still years away. Elon Musk has repeatedly said making self-driving cars is one of Tesla's main goals. He claims it's just a software update away. Read why experts say Tesla isn't getting there anytime soon.

6. Google's AI offensive. Google is racing to catch up to Microsoft in AI, as the latter's partnership with OpenAI has given it a leg up. My colleague Hugh Langley got his hands on an org chart showing the most important execs in Google's AI division. 

7. Tech firms are demanding a return to office. Amazon, Apple, and Twitter are just a sampling of the firms that are pushing for or requiring employees back in the office. But after years of successful remote work, employees are fighting back.

8. Gen Z wants work-life balance. Gen-Z job seekers are shocking older hiring managers by asking about work-life balance in the first interview. And hiring managers from older generations are struggling to adapt. This is how expectations for work-life balance are changing.

Odds and ends:

9. A limited-edition Nintendo Switch. Nintendo is releasing a limited-edition Switch OLED console to celebrate the new "Legend of Zelda" game. It releases on April 28 — here's how to preorder.

10. The best Apple Watch bands. An Apple Watch is an essential for many of us these days, but the right band can make all the difference. Check out Insider's review of the 18 best Apple Watch bands in 2023. 

Curated by Paayal Zaveri in San Francisco. (Feedback or tips? Email pzaveri@insider.com or tweet @paayalzaveri)  Edited by Matt Weinberger (tweet @gamoid) in San Francisco and Jack Sommers (tweet @jack_sommers) in London.