Elon Musk, Bill Gates and other researchers call for a pause in the AI race
(ORDO NEWS) — Prominent technology leaders are urging AI creators to stop preparing the most powerful AI systems for at least six months. Experts cite “serious risks to society and humanity.”
Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak signed the letter, which was then published by the Future of Life Institute, a non-profit organization backed by Musk.
The letter comes after OpenAI announced an even more powerful version of GPT-4, which underpins the popular AI chatbot tool, ChatGPT.
The technology has already been demonstrated in drafting lawsuits, passing standardized exams, and creating a working website from a hand-drawn sketch.
The letter, which was also signed by OpenAI’s CEO, said the pause should extend to AI systems “more powerful than GPT-4”.
It also said that independent experts should use the proposed pause to jointly develop and implement a set of common protocols for AI tools that are secure.
“Advanced AI could represent a profound change in the history of life on Earth and should be planned and managed with commensurate care and resources,” the letter said.
“Unfortunately, this level of planning and management is not happening, although in recent months the AI labs have become embroiled in an uncontrolled race to develop and implement ever more powerful digital minds that no one, not even their creators, can understand, predict or reliably control.”
If a pause is not established soon, then governments should intervene and impose a moratorium, the letter said.
The wave of public attention towards ChatGPT late last year helped reignite the race among tech companies to develop and implement similar AI tools in their products.
OpenAI, Microsoft and Google are leading the race, but IBM, Amazon, Baidu and Tencent are also actively working on similar technologies.
Artificial intelligence experts are increasingly concerned about the potential of AI tools to generate biased responses , the ability to spread disinformation, and the impact on consumer privacy.
These tools have also raised questions about how AI can replace some professions, allow students to cheat, and change our relationship with technology.
ABI Research analyst Lian Ji-soo said the letter shows real concerns among technology leaders about the unregulated use of AI technology.
However, he called parts of the petition “ridiculous”, including a request for a break in AI development after GPT-4. He said it would help some of the people who signed the letter to maintain their dominance in the field.
“Corporate ambition and the desire for dominance often win out over ethical considerations,” Su said.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if these organizations are already testing something more advanced than ChatGPT or [Google] Bard while we’re talking about it.”
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