The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) has created an urgent need for international regulation and watchdogs, according to the creators of ChatGPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer). On May 16th, the lead researcher at OpenAI, Greg Altman, spoke before the US Congress to encourage stricter laws to control the consequences of AI technology, citing worries concerning both the spread of false information and privacy rights breaches.
Back in March, a joint letter issued by the A.I. pioneers and researchers including Elon Musk urged a ban of the development of the most pervasive AI systems; warning of the risks of an AI-driven future. Now, Altman and the OpenAI team urge the same consideration to create laws and rules that can protect the evidence of potential disruption that could result in sweeping job automation. Investment banks and research by Goldman Sachs suggest that a vast majority of full-time jobs could be lost to automation in the next ten years.
Industry giants like Facebook, Google and Buzzfeed have won billions from AI-driven sciences and products. This has lead to several attempts to craft laws on subjects such as data privacy, safety policies and freedom of speech, but unfortunately, these initiatives have been throttled by intense lobbying from tech companies.
In a Senate subcommittee hearing, the Senate Chairman, Senator Richard Blumenthal emphasized that a lot of these discussions are part of a long line of efforts to ensure better control of technology. Effectively, these talks are an attempt to create new regulations in order to avoid the mistakes of the past.
OpenAI and other AI researchers hope that the new control measure will create better accountability for the future of AI technologies and facilitate an easier understanding of them for the citizens of the world. It’s clear that the need to create regulations and guidelines for AI is growing ever more urgent. It is time for government bodies, industry bigwigs and researchers alike to work together and craft careful strategies to ensure safe and responsible AI practices.
