AI technology has advanced to the point of creating a new wave of interaction, where machines can have conversations with humans. Leading researchers from Google, and tech leaders from OpenView, Chat GPT and Replika, Character.ai and You.com are the latest to break through in this new age of generative AI. As the technology rapidly progresses, it’s important to consider the ethical implications of AI: will it lead to a future where machine is more dominant than mankind?
This is a question that AI Ethicists around the globe are asking. Scientists like Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk, who have both passed away, were very vocal in their vision of a future where AI would overpower human capabilities. The enthusiasm for generative AI enables companies to make tremendous returns, which can lead to trillions of dollars in value and a huge impact across all industries. Thanks to the growth, there was a huge influx of investment in 2020 -to the tune of $140 billion. However, with this communal enthusiasm, AI face numerous risks, such as producing toxic content, surfacing up potential biases or even influencing the quality of data supplied, leading to fake news.
The importance of a legal framework was recognized by the Future Institute of Life and the EU, which both voiced their support in a need to provide guardrails and regulation within the AI industry. Legislations have been proposed, such as the Canadian AI and Data Act, (AIDA in bill C27). The law would enable both the private and public sectors to create an ethical approach for their AI technology.
Francois Chollet, AI researcher at Google, is one of the most grounded ethicists when discussing the impact of LLM’s like ChatGPT, or Google’s Bard chat bots. He does not agree with the idea that this type of technology will bring 100X returns or create an “alternative reality” of autonomous citizens. He is joined by Sam Altman, founder of OpenView and ChatGPT, in expressing his concern over the emergent technologies and never engaging in any commitments on anything significant.
Global AI ethicists, including the esteemed Yoshua Bengio, see the potential danger of AI technologies falling into the wrong hands and leading to catastrophic consequences. He strongly believes in AI capabilities accelerating, most importantly in the language-generating technology sector. To that effect, Bengio and a host of other AI leaders have engaged in the legal battle to ensure the AI and Machine Learning industry is regulated in a safe and ethical manner, avoiding any harm to people.
ChatGPT, Google’s Bard chat bots, are among the leading industry players for generative AI companies and look to unlock further market potential in the years to come. All in all,ChatGPT and the other generative AI companies have great potential to provide powerful solutions and tools, however, it is necessary to ensure that its use is properly governed by a unified ethical framework to protect against catastrophic outcomes.
