Pause AI experiments, say tech bigwigs, scientists & CEOs

Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, Andrew Yang, and Stuart Russel along with over 1000 tech luminaries, scientists, and business leaders have asked labs to stop conducting large-scale AI experiments that are more powerful than ChatGPT.

In an open letter, the signatories mention that AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity, as shown by extensive research and acknowledged by top AI labs.

The letter was published by the Future of Life Institute, a nonprofit organisation that works to reduce global catastrophic and existential risks facing humanity, particularly the existential risk from advanced artificial intelligence.

Recently, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, the company that created the widely popular ChatGPT, said that he is a ‘little scared’ of the AI potential. (Read: Sam Altman ‘little scared of ChatGPT). He stated that such models could be used for large-scale disinformation, and also to launch offensive cyber-attacks.

“Contemporary AI systems are now becoming human-competitive at general tasks, and we must ask ourselves: Should we let machines flood our information channels with propaganda and untruth? Should we automate away all the jobs, including the fulfilling ones? Should we develop nonhuman minds that might eventually outnumber, outsmart, push us into obsolescence, and replace us? Should we risk the loss of control of our civilisation? Such decisions must not be delegated to unelected tech leaders. Powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable,” the letter said.

“The spirit of the letter is one that I support: until we get a better handle on the risks and benefits, we should proceed with caution,” wrote Gary Marcus, scientist, bestselling author, entrepreneur, and one of the most influential voices in AI.

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