A group of leading technology experts around the world has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) technology should be viewed as a social risk and prioritized on a par with pandemics and nuclear war.
The statement, signed by hundreds of business leaders and academics, was released by the AI Safety Center amid growing concerns over regulation and the risks that technology poses to humanity.
“Reducing the risk of AI-induced extinction should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” the statement said. The signatories included Google’s DeepMind CEO, ChatGPT developer OpenAI, and AI startup Anthropic.
Global leaders and industry experts, such as those at OpenAI, say technology could have a significant impact on the job market, harm the health of millions and weaponize disinformation, discrimination and identity theft. Out of existential dread, they call for regulation of technology.
This month, Jeffrey Hinton, often touted as the godfather of AI, was also a signatory but left Google, citing “existential risks.” The risk was acknowledged for the first time last week by the 10th-ranked lawmaker, who agreed as well. Two months after the publication of the AI white paper, he warns that the rapid change in policy within the government is already outdated by industry insiders.
According to Michael Osborne, professor of machine learning at the University of Oxford and co-founder of MindFoundry, AI poses new existential threats as well as exacerbating existing existential risks such as man-made pandemics and an arms race. It is said that there is a possibility that
The success of ChatGPT, launched in November, has raised calls for the threat to be contained. This language model has been widely adopted by millions of people and is rapidly advancing beyond the expectations of the most knowledgeable people in the industry.
“We don’t know AI very well,” Osborne said, “so the prospect is that it could play a role as a sort of new competitor on Earth. Species can play some destructive role.” role in our survival as a species. ”
