A recent statement from the Center for AI Safety, signed by prominent figures in the AI industry such as Sam Altman, Demis Hassabis, Yoshua Benigo, and Geoffrey Hinton, warned that mitigating AI’s potential for extinction is now a pressing issue, alongside other global risks such as pandemics and nuclear war. The statement paints a dire picture of runaway artificial intelligence that is already plotting our demise. However, while the risks posed by AI are well-founded, using inflammatory language such as risk of extinction is not helpful in mitigating them. Consumers need to be more aware that AI is still prone to getting things wrong as it is to finding extraordinary solutions. What is required is more intelligent and rational discussion as well as action on regulation, rather than fearmongering.
In the article, several prominent figures in the AI industry are mentioned. Sam Altman, who is the CEO of OpenAI, recently spoke in front of Congress about the need to regulate AI. Demis Hassabis is the founder, CEO, and researcher at DeepMind, which is a research laboratory within Google. Yoshua Benigo and Geoffrey Hinton have both been awarded the Turing Award, which is considered to be the Nobel Prize for computer science.
The article highlights the need for more intelligent discussion surrounding AI regulation and warns against using inflammatory language that could impede AI development. Consumers should be made more aware that AI systems are still prone to error and that AI poses risks, rather than a catastrophic threat.
