Microsoft President Brad Smith called for artificial intelligence developers to exercise “self-restraint” and “responsibility” in shepherding this new technology’s path.
During his April 12 conversation at Semafor’s World Economy Summit, Smith also emphasized the need to reign in the nascent industry from a regulatory standpoint.
Since the release of OpenAI’s interactive AI software ChatGPT late last year, independent programmers have created various offshoots by listing the open-source code, and many tech giants have scrambled to release competing AI systems. With one privately altered iteration of ChatGPT calling for the destruction of humanity, concerns around AI have grown substantially.
Microsoft is a big investor in OpenAI and has released a new ChatGPT-powered Bing.
In addition to the potential risks contained within the technology itself, Smith highlighted the dangers of AI falling into the wrong hands, particularly those of foreign adversaries.
“The biggest risks from AI are probably going to come when they’re put in the hands of foreign governments that are adversaries,” he warned. “Look at Russia, who’s using cyber influence operations, not just in Ukraine, but in the United States.”
“We need a national strategy to use AI to defend and to disrupt and deter.”
The Microsoft executive likened today’s rapidly developing AI sector to the arms race of the Cold War era. Still, he fears the technology could spiral out of control without proper regulatory guardrails.
“We need to ensure that just as we live in a country where no person, no government, no company is above the law, no technology should be above the law either,” Smith said. He called on tech companies to educate lawmakers and inform legislation.
Pausing AI Development
Tesla founder Elon Musk and other tech leaders like Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak co-signed an open letter in March calling for a six-month “pause” in artificial intelligence development. Musk has long been an advocate for responsible development and use of AI and has previously expressed his worries about the risks of AI potentially posing existential threats to humanity.“Recent months have seen AI labs locked in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one—not even their creators—can understand, predict, or reliably control,” the letter said. “Powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable.”
When asked about the letter, Smith said he did not find the approach realistic, arguing instead that regulators should work to establish an understanding of the technology and get a hold of it.
“I don’t see people pausing the research,” he said. “I'd rather see government move faster.”
In January, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) used ChatGPT to draft a resolution that would urge Congress to focus on AI systems and consider the safe and responsible development of the technology.
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