6-fingered gloves sent to Sam Altman and EU leaders in chilling AI warning

Six-fingered gloves have been sent to global leaders as a chilling reminder of AI dangers.

The gloves symbolise a disturbing digital problem: image generators giving people extra fingers.

The petrifying pictures have now been brought to life by Finnish startup Saidot.

“AI is developing so fast that nobody can fully anticipate its impacts and the emerging risks,” warned Veera Siivonen, the company’s CCO and co-founder.

“That’s why we want to highlight both the steps that have been taken forward for safer AI, as well as some of the steps that should be taken.”

After stitching the gruesome garments, Saidot posted them to tech luminaries, politicians, and celebrities.

OpenAI’s Sam Altman was sent a pair as a demand to align AI with human values. But Saidot also applauded him for delaying the release of potent models.

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, also received the creepy package. Saidot said her gloves represent the need for effective regulation.

Another set was delivered to Scarlett Johansson. The actress hit the headlines in May after OpenAI launched a chatbot with an eerily similar voice to her own. Saidot sewed her gloves to illustrate the importance of digital rights.

A fourth pair was mailed to Mark Zuckerberg. Saidot praised the Meta boss for supporting open source models, but cautioned that training data must be sustainably sourced.

A message to AI leaders

The CEOs of Hugging Face and Klarna also received the six-fingered salutes. So did British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, EU tech commissioner Henna Virkkunen, and AI researcher Rishi Bommasani.

Saidot advised them to be wary of biased outcomes, copyright infringements,  and false information.

Naturally, the startup also suggested using its own AI governance platform. Those who decline the offer will have to face the consequences.

The pitch is reminiscent of serial killers leaving calling cards at grisly crime scenes. But in this case, the gloves provide a warning of horrors still to come.