MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Pause AI development: Open letter from world's tech leaders urges labs to stop

Although AI has the potential to revolutionize the world as we know it, experts are concerned about the “significant risks to humanity” that could result from uncontrolled AI.

Elon Musk and many other experts around the world have recently signed a petition requesting a six-month pause on research into artificial intelligence (AI) that is more powerful than ChatGPT 4, the OpenAI model that was launched this month.

They are asking for a moratorium until safety systems are in place, with new regulatory authorities, surveillance of AI systems, techniques to assist in distinguishing between real and artificial, and institutions capable of dealing with the ”dramatic economic and political disruption (especially to democracy) that AI will cause.“

The petition argues that AI labs have been in an uncontrolled race to develop and deploy ever-more powerful digital brains that no one, not even their creators, can reliably understand, predict or control. They fear that if AI continues to develop unchecked, it could pose a significant threat to the future of humanity. The petition asks, ”Should we allow machines to flood our information channels with propaganda and lies? Should we automate all jobs, including rewarding ones? Should we risk losing control of our civilization?“ The signatories conclude that these decisions should not be delegated to unelected technology leaders.

Personalities who have expressed concerns about uncontrollable AI overtaking humans, such as Musk, owner of Twitter and founder of SpaceX and Tesla, and writer and historian Yuval Noah Harari, have signed the petition. They believe that a moratorium on research into powerful AI is necessary to ensure that the technology is developed in a responsible manner that prioritizes the safety and well-being of humanity.

Although AI has the potential to revolutionize the world as we know it, experts are concerned about the ”significant risks to humanity“ that could result from uncontrolled AI.

Sam Altman, the head of OpenAI, which created ChatGPT, has stated that he is ”a little afraid“ that his creation will be used for ”large-scale disinformation or cyberattacks.” He has said that the company needs time to adapt to the potential risks associated with powerful AI.

The petition has gained support from a wide range of individuals, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, members of Google's DeepMind AI Lab, Stability AI director Emad Mostaque, as well as U.S. AI experts and academics and executive engineers from OpenAI partner Microsoft. The signatories hope that the call for a moratorium will prompt a wider discussion about the future of AI and the role it should play in society.