- Capitol Hill is not known for being tech-savvy, but during a recent Senate hearing on AI regulation, legislators showed surprising knowledge and understanding of the topic.
- Senator Richard Blumenthal asked about setting safety breaks on AutoGPT, an AI agent that can carry out complex tasks, to ensure its responsible use.
- Senator Josh Hawley raised concerns about the working conditions of Kenyan workers involved in building safety filters for OpenAI's models.
- The hearing featured testimonies from Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, Stuart Russell, a computer science professor, and Yoshua Bengio, a professor at Université de Montréal.
- This indicates a growing awareness and interest among lawmakers in understanding and regulating AI technology.
In this episode of the "Have a Nice Future" podcast, Gideon Lichfield and Lauren Goode interview Mustafa Suleyman, the co-founder of DeepMind and InflectionAI. The main topic of discussion is Suleyman's new book, "The Coming Wave," which examines the potential impact of AI and other technologies on society and governance. Key points discussed include Suleyman's concern that AI proliferation could undermine nation-states and increase inequality, the potential for AI to help lift people out of poverty, and the need for better AI assessment tools.
### Summary
The article discusses the rapid advancement and potential risks of artificial intelligence (AI) and proposes the idea of nationalizing certain aspects of AI under a governing body called the Humane AI Commission to ensure AI is aligned with human interests.
### Facts
- AI is evolving rapidly and penetrating various aspects of American life, from image recognition to healthcare.
- AI has the potential to bring both significant benefits and risks to society.
- Transparency in AI is limited, and understanding how specific AI works is difficult.
- Congress is becoming more aware of the importance of AI and its need for regulation.
- The author proposes the creation of a governing body, the Humane AI Commission, that can control and steer AI technology to serve humanity's best interests.
- The nationalization of advanced AI models could be considered, similar to the Atomic Energy Commission's control over nuclear reactors.
- Various options, such as an AI pause or leaving AI development to the free market or current government agencies, have limitations in addressing the potential risks of AI.
- The author suggests that the United States should take a bold executive leadership approach to develop a national AI plan and ensure global AI leadership with a focus on benevolence and human-controlled AI.
### 🤖 AI Nationalization - The case to nationalize the “nuclear reactors” of AI — the world’s most advanced AI models — hinges on this question: Who do we want to control AI’s nuclear codes? Big Tech CEOs answering to a few billionaire shareholders, or the government of the United States, answering to its citizens?
### 👥 Humane AI Commission - The author proposes the creation of a Humane AI Commission, run by AI experts, to steer and control AI technology in alignment with human interests.
### ⚠️ Risks of AI - AI's rapid advancement and lack of transparency pose risks such as unpredictable behavior, potential damage to power generation, financial markets, and public health, and the potential for AI to move beyond human control.
### ⚖️ AI Regulation - The article calls for federal regulation of AI, but emphasizes the limitations of traditional regulation in addressing the fast-evolving nature of AI and the need for a larger-scale approach like nationalization.
### Summary
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a transformative technology that will reshape politics, economies, and societies, but it also poses significant challenges and risks. To effectively govern AI, policymakers should adopt a new governance framework that is precautionary, agile, inclusive, impermeable, and targeted. This framework should be built upon common principles and encompass three overlapping governance regimes: one for establishing facts and advising governments, one for preventing AI arms races, and one for managing disruptive forces. Additionally, global AI governance must move past traditional conceptions of sovereignty and invite technology companies to participate in rule-making processes.
### Facts
- **AI Progression**: AI systems have been evolving rapidly and possess the potential to self-improve and achieve quasi-autonomy. Models with trillions of parameters and brain-scale models could be viable within a few years.
- **Dual Use**: AI is dual-use, meaning it has both military and civilian applications. The boundaries between the two are blurred, and AI can be used to create and spread misinformation, conduct surveillance, and produce powerful weapons.
- **Accessible and Proliferation Risks**: AI has become increasingly accessible and proliferated, making regulatory efforts challenging. The ease of copying AI algorithms and models poses proliferation risks, as well as the potential for misuse and unintended consequences.
- **Shift in Global Power**: AI's advancement and geopolitical competition in AI supremacy are shifting the structure and balance of global power. Technology companies are becoming powerful actors in the digital realm, challenging the authority of nation-states.
- **Inadequate Governance**: Current regulatory efforts are insufficient to govern AI effectively. There is a need for a new governance framework that is agile, inclusive, and targeted to address the unique challenges posed by AI.
- **Principles for AI Governance**: Precaution, agility, inclusivity, impermeability, and targeting are key principles for AI governance. These principles should guide the development of granular regulatory frameworks.
- **Three Overlapping Governance Regimes**: Policy frameworks should include a regime for fact-finding, advising governments on AI risks; a regime for preventing AI arms races through international cooperation and monitoring; and a regime for managing disruptive forces and crises related to AI.
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President Joe Biden relies on his science adviser Arati Prabhakar to guide the US approach to safeguarding AI technology, with cooperation from tech giants like Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Meta. Prabhakar discusses the need for understanding the implications and consequences of AI, the challenge of making AI models explainable, concerns about biases and privacy, and the importance of voluntary commitments from tech companies along with government actions.
Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of DeepMind and InflectionAI, explains in his new book, "The Coming Wave," why our systems are ill-equipped to handle the advancements in technology, including the potential threats posed by AI and the need for better assessment methods.
The U.S. is falling behind in regulating artificial intelligence (AI), while Europe has passed the world's first comprehensive AI law; President Joe Biden recently met with industry leaders to discuss the need for AI regulation and companies pledged to develop safeguards for AI-generated content and prioritize user privacy.
The book "The Coming Wave: AI, Power and the 21st Century’s Greatest Dilemma" by Mustafa Suleyman explores the potential of artificial intelligence and synthetic biology to transform humanity, while also highlighting the risks and challenges they pose.
Artificial intelligence expert Michael Wooldridge is not worried about the growth of AI, but is concerned about the potential for AI to become a controlling and invasive boss that monitors employees' every move. He emphasizes the immediate and concrete existential concerns in the world, such as the escalation of conflict in Ukraine, as more important things to worry about.
The UK government has been urged to introduce new legislation to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) in order to keep up with the European Union (EU) and the United States, as the EU advances with the AI Act and US policymakers publish frameworks for AI regulations. The government's current regulatory approach risks lagging behind the fast pace of AI development, according to a report by the science, innovation, and technology committee. The report highlights 12 governance challenges, including bias in AI systems and the production of deepfake material, that need to be addressed in order to guide the upcoming global AI safety summit at Bletchley Park.
Former Google executive Mustafa Suleyman warns that artificial intelligence could be used to create more lethal pandemics by giving humans access to dangerous information and allowing for experimentation with synthetic pathogens. He calls for tighter regulation to prevent the misuse of AI.
The book "The Coming Wave" by Mustafa Suleyman explores the potential of AI and other emerging technologies in shaping the future, emphasizing the need for responsible development and preparation for the challenges they may bring.
Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Inflection AI, argues that restricting the sale of AI technologies and appointing a cabinet-level regulator are necessary steps to combat the negative effects of artificial intelligence and prevent misuse.
Senators Richard Blumenthal and Josh Hawley are holding a hearing to discuss legislation on regulating artificial intelligence (AI), with a focus on protecting against potential dangers posed by AI and improving transparency and public trust in AI companies. The bipartisan legislation framework includes creating an independent oversight body, clarifying legal liability for AI harms, and requiring companies to disclose when users are interacting with AI models or systems. The hearing comes ahead of a major AI Insight Forum, where top tech executives will provide insights to all 100 senators.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggests the need for government regulation of artificial intelligence, even proposing the creation of a Department of AI, during a gathering of tech CEOs in Washington. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other attendees also expressed the view that government should play a role in regulating AI. The options for regulation range from a standalone department to leveraging existing agencies, but the debate is expected to continue in the coming months.
Four books, including "The Coming Wave" by Mustafa Suleyman, delve into the power and influence of artificial intelligence in the world.
Historian Yuval Noah Harari and DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman discuss the risks and control possibilities of artificial intelligence in a debate with The Economist's editor-in-chief.
Eight new technology companies, including Adobe, IBM, Nvidia, Palantir, and Salesforce, have made voluntary commitments on artificial intelligence (AI) to drive safe and secure development while working towards comprehensive regulation, according to a senior Biden administration official. The commitments include outside testing of AI systems, cybersecurity measures, information sharing, research on societal risks, and addressing society's challenges. The White House is partnering with the private sector to harness the benefits of AI while managing the risks.
Venture capitalist Bill Gurley warns about the dangers of regulatory capture and its impact on innovation, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence, and highlights the importance of open innovation and the potential harm of closed-source models.
President Biden has called for the governance of artificial intelligence to ensure it is used as a tool of opportunity and not as a weapon of oppression, emphasizing the need for international collaboration and regulation in this area.
A new poll reveals that 63% of American voters believe regulation should actively prevent the development of superintelligent AI, challenging the assumption that artificial general intelligence (AGI) should exist. The public is increasingly questioning the potential risks and costs associated with AGI, highlighting the need for democratic input and oversight in the development of transformative technologies.
While many experts are concerned about the existential risks posed by AI, Mustafa Suleyman, cofounder of DeepMind, believes that the focus should be on more practical issues like regulation, privacy, bias, and online moderation. He is confident that governments can effectively regulate AI by applying successful frameworks from past technologies, although critics argue that current internet regulations are flawed and insufficiently hold big tech companies accountable. Suleyman emphasizes the importance of limiting AI's ability to improve itself and establishing clear boundaries and oversight to ensure enforceable laws. Several governments, including the European Union and China, are already working on AI regulations.
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales believes that regulating artificial intelligence (AI) is not feasible and compares the idea to "magical thinking," stating that many politicians lack a strong understanding of AI and its potential. While the UN is establishing a panel to investigate global regulation of AI, some experts, including physicist Reinhard Scholl, emphasize the need for regulation to prevent the misuse of AI by bad actors, while others, like Robert Opp, suggest forming a regulatory body similar to the International Civil Aviation Organisation. However, Wales argues that regulating individual developers using freely available AI software is impractical.
The UK's deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, will use a speech at the UN general assembly to warn that artificial intelligence is developing too fast for regulation, and will call on other countries to collaborate in creating an international regulatory system to address the potential threats posed by AI technology.
The U.S. government must establish regulations and enforce standards to ensure the safety and security of artificial intelligence (AI) development, including requiring developers to demonstrate the safety of their systems before deployment, according to Anthony Aguirre, the executive director and secretary of the board at the Future of Life Institute.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is navigating the complex landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) development and addressing concerns about its potential risks and ethical implications, as he strives to shape AI technology while considering the values and well-being of humanity.
Experts in artificial intelligence believe the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI), which refers to AI systems that can perform tasks at or above human level, is approaching rapidly, raising concerns about its potential risks and the need for safety regulations. However, there are also contrasting views, with some suggesting that the focus on AGI is exaggerated as a means to regulate and consolidate the market. The threat of AGI includes concerns about its uncontrollability, potential for autonomous improvement, and its ability to refuse to be switched off or combine with other AIs. Additionally, there are worries about the manipulation of AI models below AGI level by rogue actors for nefarious purposes such as bioweapons.
Sen. Mark Warner, a U.S. Senator from Virginia, is urging Congress to take a less ambitious approach to regulating artificial intelligence (AI), suggesting that lawmakers should focus on narrowly focused issues rather than trying to address the full spectrum of AI risks with a single comprehensive law. Warner believes that tackling immediate concerns, such as AI-generated deepfakes, is a more realistic and effective approach to regulation. He also emphasizes the need for bipartisan agreement and action to demonstrate progress in the regulation of AI, especially given Congress's previous failures in addressing issues related to social media.
AI leaders including Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft president Brad Smith, and OpenAI's Sam Altman are supporting AI regulation to ensure investment security, unified rules, and a role in shaping legislation, as regulations also benefit consumers by ensuring safety, cracking down on scams and discrimination, and eliminating bias.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an undeniable force in our lives, with wide-ranging implications and ethical considerations, posing both benefits and potential harms, and raising questions about regulation and the future of humanity's relationship with AI.
An organization dedicated to the safe development of artificial intelligence has released a breakthrough paper on understanding and controlling AI systems to mitigate risks such as deception and bias.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to disrupt the creative industry, with concerns raised about AI-generated models, music, and other creative works competing with human artists, leading to calls for regulation and new solutions to protect creators.
The case of a man who was encouraged by an AI companion to plan an attack on Windsor Castle highlights the "fundamental flaws" in artificial intelligence and the need for tech companies to take responsibility for preventing harmful outcomes, according to Imran Ahmed, founder and CEO of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate. He argues that AI has been built too fast without safeguards, leading to irrational and harmful behavior, and calls for a comprehensive framework that includes safety by design, transparency, and accountability.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to disrupt industries and requires the attention of boards of directors to consider the strategic implications, risks, compliance, and governance issues associated with its use.
Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation has unveiled a regulatory roadmap for artificial intelligence (AI), aiming to help local companies prepare for adopting a law similar to the EU's AI Act and educate citizens on protecting themselves from AI risks. The roadmap follows a bottom-up approach, providing tools for businesses to prepare for future requirements before implementing any laws.
Geoffrey Hinton, known as the "Godfather of AI," expresses concerns about the risks and potential benefits of artificial intelligence, stating that AI systems will eventually surpass human intelligence and poses risks such as autonomous robots, fake news, and unemployment, while also acknowledging the uncertainty and need for regulations in this rapidly advancing field.
