According to a recent open letter signed by industry experts and technology leaders, the risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to human extinction. The statement was supported and signed by executives from Google’s AI division, DeepMind, Microsoft, and OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT. The Center for AI Security released the short statement on Tuesday, calling for mitigating the extinction risk of AI as a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.
The ChatGPT chatbot launched in November 2022 for public use and has since reached 100 million users in just two months. This remarkable feat has wowed researchers and the general public with its ability to generate human-like responses to user prompts. However, it also suggests that AI could replace jobs and mimic humans.
While there has been increasing discussion about a “broad spectrum of important and urgent AI risks,” it can be “difficult to voice concerns about some of the more serious risks of advanced AI.” Therefore, this open letter aims to overcome this hurdle and open up discussions.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, admitted in March that he is “a little scared” of AI because he worries that authoritarian governments will develop the technology. Other tech leaders have also warned about the risks AI poses to society. In an open letter in March, Tesla’s Elon Musk, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, and several tech leaders urged AI labs to stop training systems to be more powerful than GPT-4.
“Contemporary AI systems are now becoming competitive with humans in general tasks,” said the letter. “Should we automate all jobs, including satisfying ones? Should we develop non-human minds that could eventually outnumber, outsmart, and replace us? Should we risk losing control of our civilization?”
Last week Eric Schmidt also warned separately about the “existential risks” associated with AI as technology advances.
As the use of AI continues to grow and evolve, it is vital that we prioritize reducing the risks associated with the technology. This open letter serves as a reminder that mitigating AI extinction risk should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks.
Source: cnbc
