In light of concerns that humanity may be in danger, leading players in artificial intelligence seek to halt the development of strong AI systems. They claim the race to develop AI systems is out of control in an open letter they have signed, which warns of potential consequences.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter, is one of those calling for a minimum of six months to pass before continuing to train AIs above a particular threshold.
The developer of ChatGPT, OpenAI, just made available GPT-4, a cutting-edge technology that has stunned observers with its aptitude for tasks like identifying objects in pictures.
The letter, from the Future of Life Institute and signed by the luminaries, asks that progress be temporarily halted at that stage and warns of the potential dangers that future, more complex systems may present.
According to it, society and humanity are at grave risk from AI systems with human-competitive intellect.
“Its purpose is to direct transformational technologies away from extreme, large-scale hazards and towards benefitting life,” according to the Future of Life Institute, a non-profit organisation.
The organisation lists Mr. Musk as an external adviser. He is the owner of Twitter and the CEO of the automaker Tesla. The letter claims that while carefully developing advanced AIs is necessary, “recent months have seen AI labs embroiled in an out-of-control rush to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one—not even their creators—can understand, anticipate, or safely control.”
The letter issues a warning that automation and erroneous information could clog up information conduits and displace jobs. The letter comes in the wake of an analysis by the investment bank Goldman Sachs that suggested that while AI was expected to improve productivity, millions of jobs might be automated.
But, according to other experts, it is exceedingly difficult to anticipate how AI will affect the labour market.
