OpenAI released the GPT-4o system card. A system card is actually a research document that outlines the safety measures and potential risks of a new product before it is released to the public.
The GPT-4o model was released to the public in May this year. Before that, OpenAI used a group of cybersecurity experts (red team) to identify possible weaknesses in the model, which is a common practice in the field. They investigated potential risks such as simulating people’s voices without their permission, creating obscene and violent content, or reproducing parts of copyrighted works.
According to OpenAI’s own assessment framework, researchers have concluded that the overall risk of GPT-4o is moderate. This evaluation is based on the highest risk score in four general categories including cyber security, biological threats, persuasive power and model independence. All of these categories had low risk except persuasiveness. The researchers found that some of the texts produced by GPT-4o were more capable of changing the reader’s mind than texts written by humans.
This is not the first time that OpenAI has released a system card; Before introducing GPT-4, GPT-4 with image understanding and DALL-E 3 models, this company tested its models in the same way and published their results in the form of System Card. But the release of the GPT-4o system card takes place at a critical time.
This company has faced a lot of criticism from American government officials due to its different safety standards. Just minutes before the release of the GPT-4o system card, an open letter from Sen Elizabeth Warren It was published in which OpenAI was asked to explain how it deals with whistleblowers and the company’s security procedures, especially in the models it has built.
The letter addresses many of the safety issues that were raised publicly, including short-term layoffs Sam AltmanCEO of OpenAI, was cited in 2023 due to board concerns and the departure of the safety implementation director, who claimed that “safety culture and processes have given way to attractive products.”
