Your article “Altman makes comeback as OpenAI chief after turmoil” (Report, November 23), and the follow up piece “Tech’s philosophical rift over AI” (The Big Read, FT Weekend, November 25) made me think how we increasingly frame organisational events as dramas. As evidence we need look no advance than the unfolding, must-watch quality of the Covid inquiry. However much we know the ending, we find ourselves gripped by the show and its main characters.
In my role as a social psychologist I see this tendency as positive. We admire
to portray organisations, and our decisions about them, as logical and value-free. These dramas tell another story — they help us to see the interest-laden, relational underbelly of organisational life, something which shades every so-called “rational” decision.
But there is potentially a darker side to drama. It is not neutral; it actively elevates an image of its key actors into our consciousness and solidifies their story.
Sam Altman’s role in the OpenAI saga is a classic of the genre. This compelling boardroom drama has led to the effective deification of Altman as the central, irreplaceable character in a gripping tale.
The reality of his newfound status is yet to unfold. One thing is for sure; his performance deems him untouchable. Having seen off the competition, he can now select his roles and select how to play them.
Most worryingly, this untouchability gives him free rein to shape the immediate future of every single one
of us.
Barry M Rogers
Visiting Professor in Practice
Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, London School of Economics and Political Science
London WC2, UK
