The two-story library has oriental rugs, desks are dotted with shade lamps, and walls are lined with hardcovers. This is the architectural heart of the offices of OpenAI, the startup whose online chatbot ChatGPT showed the world that machines can instantly generate their own poetry and prose.
This former mayonnaise factory looks like a typical tech office in San Francisco's Mission District, with shared workspaces, fully stocked micro-kitchens, and private nap rooms spread across three floors.
But it does have a library with the feel of a Victorian reading room, its shelves stocked with everything from Homer's “The Iliad” to David Deutsch's “The Beginning of Infinity,” a favorite of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Built at Altman's request and with a title suggested by his staff, the OpenAI library is an apt metaphor for the world's hottest technology company, whose success has been fueled by language. I mean, there are a lot of languages. OpenAI's chatbots aren't built like your average internet app. ChatGPT learned its skills by analyzing vast amounts of text written, edited, and curated by humans, including encyclopedia articles, news articles, poetry, and books.
This library also represents a paradox at the heart of OpenAI technology. Authors and publishers, including The New York Times, are suing OpenAI, accusing it of illegally using copyrighted content to build AI systems. Many authors fear that technology will eventually take away their livelihoods.
On the other hand, many OpenAI employees believe that the company is harnessing human creativity to further stimulate human creativity. They believe that their use of a copyrighted work is a “fair use” under the law because they are transforming the copyrighted work into something new.
“It's safe to say this is a public discussion right now,” said Shannon Gaffney, co-founder and managing partner of SkB Architects, the architecture firm that renovated OpenAI's headquarters and designed the library. says. “Even though things seem to be moving in different directions, libraries are a constant reminder of human creativity.”
When OpenAI approached Gaffney's company to renovate the building in 2019, Altman said he wanted a library with an academic feel.
He wanted it to be reminiscent of the Green Library, Stanford University's Romanesque-style library. At Stanford University, he spent two years as a student before dropping out to build a social media app. The Rose Reading Room is a Beaux-Arts study hall on the top floor of the New York Public Library in midtown Manhattan. And 15 blocks south of Rose is a library-like bar in the now-defunct Nomad Hotel.
“My dining room and living room are in a library, and they're lined with books from floor to ceiling,” Altman said in an interview. “There's something interesting about sitting in the middle of a vast bookshelf of knowledge.”
Many titles such as “British Masterpieces, 700-1900'' and “Ideas and Images of World Art'' are strategically placed within hotel lobbies by professional decorators, as appearance plays an important role. Looks like a heavy hardcover. Still, libraries reflect the institutions that built them.
On a recent afternoon, two paperbacks were lined up at eye level. “Birds of Lake Merritt” (A field guide to birds found in Oakland, California's wildlife refuge.) and “The Fake Bird of Lake Merritt” (a parody written by GPT-3, an early version of the technology that powers ChatGPT).
Some employees consider the library a quiet place to work. Long Ouyang, an AI researcher, has a rotating desk facing the wall. Others consider it an unusually elegant rest room. Another researcher, Ryan Greene, spends his weekends playing digital music through his audio speakers placed between hardcovers.
Other employees say it's a far more inspirational place than the cubicle. “This is why so many people choose to work in libraries,” Staudacher said.
Recently, Greene entered a list of his favorite books into ChatGPT and started asking for new recommendations. At one point, the chatbot recommended The Book of Disquiet.,” A posthumously published autobiography of Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa. A friend who knew his tastes advised him to read the same book.
“Technology can give us hints about the future by considering the trends and patterns of things that have happened in the past,” Green said.
Ms. Gaffney, of the architecture firm OpenAI, argued that this fusion of humans and machines is here to stay. Then she paused and added, “At least, that's what I hope and feel.”