An international group of doctors and public health experts also joined the call for a moratorium on AI research until the development and use of AI technology is properly regulated.
Despite its potential to transform society, such as in medicine and public health, certain types of AI and its applications, including self-improving general AI (AGI), pose an “existential threat to humanity.” warned in the open access journal BMJ Global. health.
They highlight three threats related to the misuse of AI and the continued failure to anticipate, adapt, and regulate the transformative impact of technology on society.
The first is due to AI’s ability to quickly clean, organize, and analyze large data sets consisting of personal data, including images.
This can be used to manipulate behavior and subvert democracy, they explained, citing its role in subverting the 2013 and 2017 Kenyan elections, the 2016 US presidential election, and the 2017 French presidential election. mentioned.
“The burgeoning ability to distort and misrepresent reality with deepfakes, combined with AI-driven information systems, will lead to a general breakdown of trust and to societal division and conflict. “It can cause problems, affect public health, and further undermine democracy,” the researchers wrote. .
AI-driven surveillance could also be used by governments and other powerful actors to more directly control and oppress people, one example being China’s social credit system, they noted. ing.
The system combines facial recognition software with analysis of “big data” repositories of people’s financial transactions, movements, police records and social relationships.
But China isn’t the only country developing AI surveillance. “At least 75 other countries are expanding such systems, from liberal democracies to military regimes,” they stress.
A second threat concerns the development of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS) that can locate, select, and attack human targets without the need for human oversight.
The authors warn that LAWS can be attached to small mobile devices such as drones, can be mass-produced cheaply, and can be easily configured to kill on an “industrial scale.”
A third threat stems from job losses associated with the widespread deployment of AI technology, estimated to number in the tens to hundreds of millions over the next decade.
“Although there may be many benefits to quitting repetitive, dangerous and unpleasant jobs, we already know that unemployment is strongly associated with negative health and behavioral consequences,” they point out.
So far, increased automation has tended only to shift income and wealth from workers to capital owners, contributing to an unequal distribution of wealth around the world, researchers say. points out.
“Additionally, we do not know how society will react psychologically and emotionally to a world in which jobs are unavailable or unnecessary, and the policies and strategies needed to break the link between unemployment and illness. I don’t think much about ,” they said. highlight.
But researchers suggest that the threat posed by self-improving AGIs that can theoretically learn and perform the full range of human tasks is all-encompassing.
“We are now aiming to develop machines that are far more intelligent and powerful than we are. The possibility of using it in any way that does or does not exist is real and should be considered.
“If realized, the connection of AGI with the real world, including through vehicles, robots, weapons and, increasingly, all the digital systems that run our societies, will well be the ‘greatest event in human history’. could be,” they wrote.
“With the exponential growth of AI research and development, the window of opportunity to avoid serious and potentially existential harm is closing. and the effectiveness of regulatory bodies designed to minimize risk and harm and maximize benefits,” they emphasize.
Not only do we need to avoid a mutually destructive AI “arms race,” they argue, but we also need international agreement and cooperation. And medical professionals have a key role to play in raising awareness and sounding the alarm about the risks and threats posed by AI.
“If AI is to live up to its promise to benefit humanity and society, we must protect democracies, strengthen public institutions, and weaken powers so that effective checks and balances are in place. not.
“This includes a portion of the military-corporate industrial complex pushing AI development and a social sector that allows AI-powered, targeted disinformation to violate our democratic institutions and privacy rights. This includes ensuring transparency and accountability for media companies,” they conclude.
