>Wouldn't it be bad if perverts used something like Midjourney to create a whole bunch of child pornography?

How is this any different from using photoshop to do it or drawing it by hand? The AI image generation communities I've seen come down hard on anything remotely resembling this stuff.

>Wouldn't it be bad if your boss used something like ChatGPT to write an
employment contract that took rights and privileges away from you in a
way that is subtle and hard for you to detect until it's too late?

You don't need an AI to do this, just hire a shady lawyer. Also regardless of how a contract is written it cannot take away rights given to you by law. If your boss is this scummy you should just find a new job. They will try to rip you off regardless of the tools available.

>Wouldn't it be bad if awful political groups like Project Veritas used
something like ChatGPT to punk and embarrass organizations like Planned
Parenthood or voter outreach orgs at an industrial scale, for the
purpose of bankrupting them with legal trouble?

I'm not even sure what you are getting at here. ChatGPT just responds to prompts you give it. It doesn't post elsewhere or send harassing messages to anybody. Have you even used it? How does a text generating AI bankrupt somebody?

AI is just a tool. Tools can be useful or dangerous depending on how you use them. If someone uses a hammer or a car to kill someone you put that person in jail. You don't go banning hammers and cars.

>Lots of people are going to be harmed and exploited by bad actors
wielding this technology, until and unless vendors and government take
steps to prevent it.

Could you give me an example of how someone could cause harm with ChatGPT in a way that isn't already ultimately illegal? It just generates text. Text that you could write yourself. Using it to generate libel/slander or a shady contract doesn't change the fact that those things are already illegal. Exploiting people and committing fraud is already illegal regardless of what tools you use to do it.

In fact, if you even hint that you are trying to use ChatGPT in a harmful way it will usually chastise you instead of answering your question. Its not perfect obviously, but it does a pretty good job and is getting better all the time. Yes there are ways to misuse it but this is true of nearly any useful tool.