Sam Altman admits ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode tricked him into thinking AI was a real person: “I kind of still say ‘please’ to ChatGPT, but in Voice Mode, I couldn’t use the normal niceties. I was so convinced, like, Argh, it might be a real person”

Sam Altman admits ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode tricked him into thinking AI was a real person: "I kind of still say 'please' to ChatGPT, but in Voice Mode, I couldn't use the normal niceties. I was so convinced, like, Argh, it might be a real person"

What you need to know

  • OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently admitted that ChatGPT’s Voice Mode tricked him into thinking AI is a real person. 
  • The CEO claims AI systems will become more capable as new features and improvements continue to ship, making them more natural to interact with. 
  • Altman admitted superintelligence could be a few thousand days from OpenAI’s doorstep, however, it will require “$7 trillion and many years to build 36 semiconductor plants and additional data centers” to bring the vision to life. 

As an observer with a background in technology and AI, I find myself both fascinated and slightly unnerved by the rapid advancements being made in the field of artificial intelligence, as exemplified by OpenAI’s latest offerings like ChatGPT and its Advanced Voice Mode.


OpenAI’s leading products such as ChatGPT and advanced AI models like OpenAI-o1 are consistently reaching new milestones with added features and enhancements, to the point where these advancements could possibly make coding a less viable career path for future generations. Notable tech leaders like NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman express similar views on this topic.

Regarding ChatGPT, OpenAI has finally rolled out the highly anticipated Advanced Voice Mode for ChatGPT Plus and Team subscribers. This update comes with five fresh voice options, personalized commands, enhanced conversation flow, speed, and smoother delivery in selected foreign accents.

It’s worth noting that the feature isn’t yet available in the EU, the UK, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein. You’ll also need a $20 monthly subscription to access the feature. While it remains unclear whether the feature will ship to broad availability, OpenAI may be reluctant to ship it because of the EU AI Act’s stringent policies, prohibiting AI systems that can recognize a user’s emotions. 

Originally, the plan was to release this feature to the public in June. But due to safety considerations such as enhancing its capacity to identify and reject inappropriate content, the launch date has been pushed back to July instead.

Does ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode sound too human-like?

After just a few weeks since Advanced Voice Mode became accessible to the general public, feedback on social media suggests that the feature seems remarkably close to human-like interactions, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appearing to concur.

As a researcher, I recently stumbled upon a brief video posted in the r/OpenAI community on Reddit, where Altman confessed an intriguing revelation: for the first time, I found myself genuinely convinced that ChatGPT’s Voice Mode resembled human interaction more than I had anticipated.

Sam Altman says ChatGPT’s Voice mode was the first time he was tricked into thinking an AI was a person, and he says “please” and “thank you” to ChatGPT because “you never know” from r/OpenAI

According to the CEO:

Although I no longer use polite phrases when communicating with ChatGPT in text mode, I find myself using ‘please’ in voice mode. It feels as though I might be speaking to a real person, which is odd because I know I’m just triggering responses from a computer. The way it responds in voice mode makes me feel more connected, and I still have that sensation now.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, predicts that the performance and capabilities of AI systems and models will likely enhance progressively over time. He further explained, “As these AI systems grow increasingly proficient, and our aim is to make them as intuitive as possible to communicate with, we’ll encounter more instances of this kind of development.

In a recent blog post by Sam Altman, Superintelligence might only be “a few thousand days away.” The CEO outlined an audacious plan to edge OpenAI closer to this vision of “$7 trillion and many years to build 36 semiconductor plants and additional data centers.” 

By chance, OpenAI recently concluded a funding round, successfully gathering $6.6 billion from investors such as Microsoft and NVIDIA, which has boosted its market value to an impressive $157 billion. Remarkably, it appears that OpenAI requested exclusive financing, leaving rival firms like SuperIntelligence Inc., led by former Chief Scientist Illya Sustever, and xAI founded by Elon Musk, to find alternative sources of funding. Nevertheless, investors remain optimistic about OpenAI’s future success, believing it could one day emerge as the global leader in AI technology, with a worth potentially exceeding trillions of dollars.

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2024-10-04 16:09