Leaders and experts call for a pause in AI research, for the sake of humanity ⚠️

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In an open letter that has already gathered more than 24,715 signatures, leaders and experts in the artificial intelligence sector call for a 6-month moratorium on research into artificial intelligence. According to them, this pause is necessary to assess the challenges and dangers of AI.

AI would represent profound risks for society and humanity⚠️

Published on March 29 by the nonprofit Future of Life Institute, this open letter sets the tone from the first sentence :

AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity

Its signatories are not just anonymous. They include Elon Musk, who needs no introduction, but also other major figures in tech such as Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, Jaan Tallinn, co-founder of Skype, Evan Sharp, co-founder of Pinterest, and thousands of other entrepreneurs and scientists. Their request is quite clear :

we call on all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4

But why? In their open letter, they explain that this pause is necessary to ensure that the AI revolution that has been started will not lead humanity to its ruin. Indeed, to date, there is no ethical and transparent safety protocol to ensure that the development of AIs is going in the right direction. And even their creators are unable to predict, or even less to control them at 100%..

Unfortunately, this level of planning and management is not happening, even though recent months have seen AI labs locked in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one – not even their creators – can understand, predict, or reliably control.

For this reason, the signatories encourage artificial intelligence research groups to work closely with regulators.

The proliferation of fake news and jobs at risk🤖

A major impact we will soon experience in our lives is the proliferation of fake news. Tools such as ChatGPT facilitate the creation of texts of all kinds, while others, such as Midjourney, allow the generation of images that are increasingly difficult to distinguish from reality. The open letter warns against this scourge that is spreading more and more rapidly in our society:

Should we let machines flood our information channels with propaganda and untruth? Should we automate away all the jobs, including the fulfilling ones?

Jobs are not to be overlooked either. According to a study conducted by OpenAI on more than 1,000 occupations practiced on American soil,

80% of the U.S. workforce could see at least 10% of their work tasks affected by the introduction of AI, while about 19% of workers could see at least 50% of their tasks affected

Among the list of professions most at risk are: interpreters, translators, poets, lyricists, public relations specialists, writers and authors, mathematicians, accountants, blockchain engineers, journalists.

But OpenAI would caution against interpreting the results of its study too literally. Indeed, it is difficult to reduce all occupations to a list of specific tasks, which may skew the researchers’ analysis. It is possible that some skills or tasks important to specific occupations have been omitted.

Is the moratorium likely to be successful?🤔

If some big voices are pushing for this moratorium, other equally important personalities do not share the same opinion, Bill Gates first. For the co-founder of Microsoft, the moratorium is not a solution. According to him, it would be very difficult to implement the suspension of AI development.

« I don’t really understand who they think would stop, or whether every country in the world would agree to stop, or why we would have to stop, » Gates says, adding that there are « a lot of different opinions in this area. ».

Except that if AI developments are not regulated, then we will have to rely on the ethics and good faith of the companies that create them. However, these companies may have financial and commercial motivations that are not in line with the ethical and social interests of society. Therefore, it is crucial to establish regulations and ethical standards to guide the development and use of AI. In addition, companies can be encouraged to develop ethical tools if consumers demand responsible and ethical products. We are certainly witnessing a turning point in human history.

If you wish to read the entire letter, just click here.

Sources : Lettre ouverte de Future of Life Institute, 01net