“We do not condone what we are doing.” It’s a bold thing for an AI company CEO to say on television, even when that CEO is actually Jane Wickline in a wig.
During the Sept. 26 premiere of Saturday Night Live’s new season, Wickline played Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Weekend Update, answering Michael Che’s questions as two versions of the same man. One tried to sound like a reassuring tech CEO. The other kept saying things a reassuring tech CEO probably shouldn’t say on television.
The second version won. “AI is the devil and I its maker!” Wickline’s Amodei declared. Asked about the industry’s position on its own work, the character offered another less-than-comforting assurance: “We do not condone what we are doing.”
Even the segment’s attempt to find a bright side took a turn. Asked whether AI could cure cancer, Wickline’s Amodei replied, “In 10 years, there’s about a 10% chance that cancer won’t be a problem for anyone,” leaving audiences wondering if he’s predicting a cure or a world with no one left to get cancer.
Amodei leads the company behind Claude, but he has also warned about the risks of developing increasingly powerful AI too quickly. In a recent essay, he called for companies to slow the pace of development so safety work has time to catch up, with outside evaluators and shared standards to help keep them accountable. He argues that AI could bring enormous benefits, too; his proposal is to develop it more carefully.
With SNL back for a new season, it was only a matter of time before the AI debate reached the Weekend Update desk. Wickline got plenty of material out of one CEO trying to explain himself. We’ll see which tech executive the show characterizes next.
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