AI is becoming increasingly popular in the business world and has opened up conversations about the risks and opportunities posed by the technology. Many leaders and industry executives are exploring ways to ensure that investments in AI are successful and beneficial to society. But many have raised concerns about the implementation of AI tech, noting the potential for it to do great harm if deployed incorrectly. This has led to the emergence of “x-risk” ideologies, such as those related to “longtermism,” “effective altruism,” and “transhumanism,” as well as debates about AI ethics and risks.
The most notable development in the AI industry recently was OpenAI’s release of its ChatGPT model on November 30. This AI model allows users to generate conversation-based responses as if it were human and generates masses of conversation data. This has caused blowback from politicians such as Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) and complaints issued to the FTC. It has also resulted in a call from Future of Life Institute, of which Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak signed an open letter, for a six-month ‘pause’ on large-scale AI development.
The ongoing mass of these AI debates has gotten to the point of saturation such that executives are questioning the logic behind the marketing of the technology with phrases such as, “Something is coming. We aren’t ready.” People are wanting to figure out how to reconcile the complex issues around AI and to bring some kind of order to the chaos.
It is CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, who is at the forefront of AI discussion and who has declared apprehension of the technology while driving to develop and promote it for profit. But, with technology being inherently political, AI discussion has cast a wide net to include topics like longtermism, paperclip-maximizing problem, transhumanism, AI safety and alignment and many hypotheses of tech-related scenarios. This can often lead people to become overwhelmed with the many threads of discourse and unable to discern the underlying agendas.
In order to gain better understanding of the AI landscape, Rich Harang from Nvidia recommends speaking to people who are actively building these models and seeing the issues from a practical perspective. Additionally, getting away from the disagreements and focusing instead on the commonalities and areas in which people agree can provide valuable insight. For example, many people do agree on the need for regulation and developer responsibility.
The AI Beat provides ongoing generative AI coverage and gives users insight into the corporate side of the AI industry. With the advancement of the AI landscape, users can gain access to enterprise-focused AI that can revolutionize customer service and productivity levels. As the debates over AI ethics, power and politics intensify, it is important to focus on those areas of agreement and to talk to those who are actively deploying AI models. Keep up with VentureBeat’s AI coverage and join the conversation on July 11-12, doing the AI Beat’s top executive gathering in San Francisco, to explore how leaders are integrating and optimizing AI investments for success.
