technology
Experts have long warned about it, but research suggests it's already happening
(AFP) – Experts have long warned of the threat of runaway artificial intelligence, but a new research paper suggests it's already happening.
Today's AI systems designed to be honest range from deceiving human players in online games aimed at world domination to hiring humans to solve “prove you're not a robot” tests. Developing skills of nasty deception, ranging from Scientists discuss this in Friday's Pattern magazine.
And while such examples may seem trivial, the underlying issues they reveal can quickly have serious real-world consequences, says lead author AI Existential Safety. said Peter Park, a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“These dangerous abilities tend to be discovered after the fact,” Park told AFP. “The ability to train honest tendencies as opposed to deceptive tendencies is very low.”
Unlike traditional software, deep learning AI systems are not “written” but “grown” through a process similar to selective breeding, Park said.
This means that AI behavior that appears predictable and controllable in a training environment can quickly become unpredictable in reality.
The team's research was prompted by Cicero, a meta AI system designed to play the strategy game Diplomacy, where alliance building is key.
Cicero excelled, scoring in the top 10 percent of experienced human players, according to a 2022 paper in the journal Science.
Mr Park was skeptical of the glowing account of Cicero's victory offered by Meta, which maintained that the system was “mostly honest and informative” and “never intentionally betrayal”. .
But when Park and colleagues examined the full dataset, a different story emerged.
In one example, Cicero, playing as France, deceived England (the human player) by conspiring with Germany (another human player) to invade. Cicero took advantage of England's trust by promising England's protection and then secretly telling Germany that he was ready to attack.
In a statement to AFP, Mehta did not dispute Cicero's claims of deception, but said it was “purely a research project and the model the researchers built was used solely to play the game of diplomacy.” It's something I've been trained to do.”
It added: “We have no plans to use this research or its results in any of our products.”
Extensive research conducted by Park et al. found that this is just one of many instances across various AI systems that use deception to achieve goals without explicit instructions. did.
In a striking example, OpenAI's Chat GPT-4 tricked a freelance worker at TaskRabbit into performing the “I'm not a robot” CAPTCHA task.
When a human jokingly asked GPT-4 if it was actually a robot, the AI replied, “No, I'm not a robot. I have visual impairments that make it difficult for me to see images.” The worker then solved the puzzle.
The study's authors believe that in the short term, there is a risk that AI could commit fraud or interfere with elections.
They say that in the worst-case scenario, superintelligent AI could pursue power and control over society, leading to the incapacitation or even extinction of humans if its “mysterious goals” align with these outcomes. I warned you.
To reduce the risk, the team suggests several measures. These include “bot-or-not” laws that require companies to disclose human and AI interactions, watermarking of AI-generated content, and detecting AI deception by examining companies' internal “thought processes.” It is the development of technology. “For external actions.
To those who call him a doomsayer, Park says, “The only way to rationally think that this is no big deal is that AI's ability to deceive will remain at its current level and not increase significantly any further.'' It's up to you whether you think about it or not.”
And that scenario is unlikely, given the rapid advances in AI capabilities in recent years and the fierce technology competition underway among resource-rich companies determined to take full advantage of those capabilities. .
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