Elon Musk signs letter to stop AI development immediately over risk to humanity
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Elon Musk has signed a letter to put a stop to the development of artificial intelligence due to the potential risks to humanity.
It’s clear that we may have a much bigger problem on our hands than ChatGPT writing people's essays for them, according to Musk.
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The Twitter CEO, along with over one thousand other AI experts, have signed the document over fears that the technology poses a serious threat to society as we know it.
The letter in question calls for a halt to the 'dangerous race' of technological advancements.
The letter was issued by the non-profit Future of Life Institute with over 1,000 experts, Musk included, warning people of the alleged risk that AI can pose for civilisation.
The non-profit is predominantly funded by the Musk Foundation and Founders Pledge, as well as the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the European Union's transparency register states.
Noting the issue of human-competitive AI systems in the form of both economic and political disruptions, the letter warns: "AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity."
It continues: "Powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable."
It states that AI labs and independent experts should use the hiatus to regulate certain 'protocols'.
The letter calls for the developers to 'jointly develop and implement a set of shared safety protocols for advanced AI design and development that are rigorously audited and overseen by independent outside experts'.
Such protocols will allegedly 'ensure that systems adhering to them are safe beyond a reasonable doubt'.
One of the measures included advising a six-month halt to what has been dubbed as the 'dangerous race' in developing systems even more powerful than OpenAI's recently launched GPT-4.
GPT-4 is the next version of the technology behind ChatGPT and has been reported to significantly improve upon the chatbot's ability to comprehend and complete given tasks - from essay-writing all the way to tips on how to smuggle cocaine.
If these measures fail to be put in place within the given timeframe, the letter calls for government to take a stand and intervene by putting in place a temporary prohibition of the rapidly-developing technology.
If such a pause cannot be enacted quickly, the letter says governments should step in and institute a moratorium.
And Musk wasn't the only big name who signed the document.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Yoshua Benigo who have been hailed as the 'godfathers of AI' also penned their signatures on the letter.
Featured Image Credit: Jae C Hong/AP/Shutterstock/20th Century Fox
Topics: Elon Musk, Technology
