Last week, a whos who of technologists called for artificial intelligence (AI) labs to stop training the most powerful AI systems for at least six months, citing "profound risks to society and humanity."
In an open letter that now has more than 3,100 signatories, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, tech leaders called out San Francisco-based OpenAI Labs recently announcedGPT-4 algorithm in particular, saying the company should halt further development until oversight standards are in place. That goal has the backing of technologists, CEOs, CFOs, doctoral students, psychologists, medical doctors, software developers and engineers, professors, and public school teachers from all over the globe.
On Friday, Italy became the first Western nation to ban further development of ChatGPT over privacy concerns; the natural language processing app experienced a data breach last month involving user conversations and payment information. ChatGPT is the popular GPT-based chatbot created by OpenAI and backed by billions of dollars from Microsoft.
The Italian data protection authority said it is also investigating whether OpenAI's chatbot already violated the European Union'sGeneral Data Protection Regulationrules created toprotect personal data inside and outside the EU.OpenAI has complied with the new law, according to a report by the BBC.
The expectation among many in the technology community is that GPT, which stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer, will advance to become GPT-5 and that version will be an artificial general intelligence, or AGI. AGI represents AI that can think for itself, and at that point, the algorithm would continue to grow exponentially smarter over time.
Around 2016, a trend emerged in AI training models that were two-to-three orders of magnitude larger than previous systems, according to Epoch,a research group trying to forecast the development of transformative AI. That trend has continued.
There are currently no AI systems larger than GPT-4 in terms of training compute, according to Jaime Sevilla, director of Epoch. But that will change.
Large-scale Machine Learning models for AI have more than doubled in capacity ever year.
Anthony Aguirre, a professor of physics at UC Santa Cruz and executive vice president of the Future of Life, the non-profit organization that published the open letter to developers, said theres no reason to believe GPT-4 wont continue to more than double in computational capabilities every year.
The largest-scale computations are increasing size by about 2.5 times per year. GPT-4s parameters were not disclosed by OpenAI, but there is no reason to think this trend has stopped or even slowed, Acquirre said. Only the labs themselves know what computations they are running, but the trend is unmistakable.
In his biweekly blog on March 23, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates heralded AGI which is capable of learning any task or subject as the great dream of the computing industry.
AGI doesnt exist yet there is a robust debate going on in the computing industry about how to create it, and whether it can even be created at all, Gates wrote. Now, with the arrival of machine learning and large amounts of computing power, sophisticated AIs are a reality, and they will get better very fast.
Muddu Sudhakar, CEO ofAisera, agenerative AI company for enterprises, saidthere are but a handful of companies focused on achieving AGI as OpenAI and DeepMind (backed by Google), though they have "huge amounts of financial and technical resources."
Even so, they have a long way to go to get to AGI, he said.
"There are so many tasks AI systems cannot do that humans can do naturally, like common-sense reasoning, knowing what a fact is and understanding abstract concepts (such as justice, politics, and philosophy)," Sudhakar said in an email to Computerworld. "There will need to be many breakthroughs and innovations for AGI. But if this is achieved, it seems like this system would mostly replace humans.
"This would certainly be disruptive and there would need to be lots of guardrails to prevent the AGI from taking full control," Sudhakar said. "But for now, this is likely in the distant future. Its more in the realm of science fiction."
Not everyone agrees.
AI technology and chatbot assistants have and will continue to make inroads in nearly every industry. The technology can create efficiencies and take over mundane tasks, freeing up knowledge workers and others to focus on more important work.
For example, large language models (LLMs) the algorithms powering chatbots can sift through millions of alerts, online chats, and emails, as well as finding phishing web pages and potentially malicious executables. LLM-powered chatbots can write essays, marketing campaigns and suggest computer code, all from just simple user prompts (suggestions).
Chatbots powered by LLMs are natural language processors that basically predict the next words after being prompted by a users question. So, if a user were to ask a chatbot to create a poem about a person sitting on a beach in Nantucket, the AI would simply chain together words, sentences and paragraphs that are the best responses based on previous training by programmers.
But LLMs also have made high-profile mistakes, and can produce hallucinations where the next-word generation engines go off the rails and produce bizarre responses.
If AI based on LLMs with billions of adjustable parameters can go off the rails, how much greater would the risk be when AI no longer needs humans to teach it, and it can think for itself? The answer is much greater, according to Avivah Litan, a vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner Research.
Litan believes AI development labs are moving forward at breakneck speed without any oversight, which could result in AGI becoming uncontrollable.
AI laboratories, she argued, have raced ahead without putting the proper tools in place for users to monitor whats going on. I think its going much faster than anyone ever expected, she said.
The current concern is that AI technology for use by corporations is being released without the tools users need to determine whether the technology is generating accurate or inaccurate information.
Right now, were talking about all the good guys who have all this innovative capability, but the bad guys have it, too, Litan said. So, we have to have these water marking systems and know whats real and whats synthetic. And we cant rely on detection, we have to have authentication of content. Otherwise, misinformation is going to spread like wildfire.
For example, Microsoft this week launched Security Copilot, which is based on OpenAIs GPT-4 large language model. The tool is an AI chatbot for cybersecurity experts to help them quickly detect and respond to threats and better understand the overall threat landscape.
The problem is, you as a user have to go in and identify any mistakes it makes, Litan said. Thats unacceptable. They should have some kind of scoring system that says this output is likely to be 95% true, and so it has a 5% chance of error. And this one has a 10% chance of error. Theyre not giving you any insight into the performance to see if its something you can trust or not.
A bigger concern in the not-so-distant future is that GPT-4 creator OpenAI will release an AGI-capable version. At that point, it may be too late to rein in the technology.
One possible solution, Litan suggested, is by releasing two models for every generative AI tool one for generating answers, the other for checking the first for accuracy.
That could do a really good job at ensuring if a model is putting out something you can trust, she said. You cant expect a human being to go through all this content and decide whats true or not, but if you give them other models that are checking, that would allow users to monitor the performance.
In 2022, Time reported that OpenAI had outsourced services to low-wage workers in Kenya to determine whether its GPT LLM was producing safe information. The workers hired by Sama, a San Francisco-based firm, were reportedly paid $2 per hour and required to sift through GPT app responses that were prone to blurting out violent, sexist and even racist remarks.
And this is how youre protecting us? Paying people $2 an hour and who are getting sick. Its wholly inefficient and its wholly immoral, Litan said.
AI developers need to work with policy makers, and these should at a minimum include new and capable regulatory authorities, Litan continued. I dont know if well ever get there, but the regulators cant keep up with this, and that was predicted years ago. We need to come up with a new type of authority.
Shubham Mishra, co-founder & global CEO for AI start-upPixis, believes while progress in his field cannot, and must not, stop, the call for a pause in AI development is warranted. Generative AI, he said, does have the power to confuse masses by pumping out propaganda or "difficult to distinguish" information into the public domain.
What we can do is plan for this progress. This can be possible only if all of us mutually agree to pause this race and concentrate the same energy and efforts on building guidelines and protocols for the safe development of larger AI models, Mishra said in an email to Computerworld.
In this particular case, the call is not for a general ban on AI development but a temporary pause on building larger, unpredictable models that compete with human intelligence, he continued. The mind-boggling rates at which new powerful AI innovations and models are being developed definitely calls for the tech leaders and others to come together to build safety measures and protocols.
Read more here:
Should we fear the rise of artificial general intelligence? - Computerworld
- What is Artificial Intelligence? How Does AI Work? | Built In [Last Updated On: September 5th, 2019] [Originally Added On: September 5th, 2019]
- Artificial Intelligence What it is and why it matters | SAS [Last Updated On: September 5th, 2019] [Originally Added On: September 5th, 2019]
- artificial intelligence | Definition, Examples, and ... [Last Updated On: September 5th, 2019] [Originally Added On: September 5th, 2019]
- Benefits & Risks of Artificial Intelligence - Future of ... [Last Updated On: September 5th, 2019] [Originally Added On: September 5th, 2019]
- What is AI (artificial intelligence)? - Definition from ... [Last Updated On: September 11th, 2019] [Originally Added On: September 11th, 2019]
- What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)? ... - Techopedia [Last Updated On: September 13th, 2019] [Originally Added On: September 13th, 2019]
- 9 Powerful Examples of Artificial Intelligence in Use ... [Last Updated On: September 18th, 2019] [Originally Added On: September 18th, 2019]
- What's the Difference Between Robotics and Artificial ... [Last Updated On: September 18th, 2019] [Originally Added On: September 18th, 2019]
- The Impact of Artificial Intelligence - Widespread Job Losses [Last Updated On: September 18th, 2019] [Originally Added On: September 18th, 2019]
- Artificial Intelligence & the Pharma Industry: What's Next ... [Last Updated On: September 18th, 2019] [Originally Added On: September 18th, 2019]
- Artificial Intelligence | GE Research [Last Updated On: September 18th, 2019] [Originally Added On: September 18th, 2019]
- A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) - IMDb [Last Updated On: October 5th, 2019] [Originally Added On: October 5th, 2019]
- 10 Best Artificial Intelligence Course & Certification [2019 ... [Last Updated On: October 15th, 2019] [Originally Added On: October 15th, 2019]
- Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: the future is amazing ... [Last Updated On: October 15th, 2019] [Originally Added On: October 15th, 2019]
- Will Artificial Intelligence Help Resolve the Food Crisis? - Inter Press Service [Last Updated On: November 18th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 18th, 2019]
- Two-thirds of employees would trust a robot boss more than a real one - World Economic Forum [Last Updated On: November 18th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 18th, 2019]
- UofL partners with industry experts to launch Artificial Intelligence Innovation Consortium Lane Report | Kentucky Business & Economic News - The... [Last Updated On: November 18th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 18th, 2019]
- China Sees Surge of Edtech Investments With Focus on Artificial Intelligence - Karma [Last Updated On: November 18th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 18th, 2019]
- NIST researchers use artificial intelligence for quality control of stem cell-derived tissues - National Institutes of Health [Last Updated On: November 18th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 18th, 2019]
- Indiana University Touts Big Red 200 and Artificial Intelligence at SC19 - HPCwire [Last Updated On: November 18th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 18th, 2019]
- One way for the Pentagon to prove it's serious about artificial intelligence - C4ISRNet [Last Updated On: November 18th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 18th, 2019]
- Artificial Intelligence Will Enable the Future, Blockchain Will Secure It - Cointelegraph [Last Updated On: November 18th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 18th, 2019]
- Artificial intelligence has become a driving force in everyday life, says LivePerson CEO - CNBC [Last Updated On: November 18th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 18th, 2019]
- 4 Reasons to Use Artificial Intelligence in Your Next Embedded Design - DesignNews [Last Updated On: November 18th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 18th, 2019]
- Artificial Intelligence Essay - 966 Words | Bartleby [Last Updated On: November 18th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 18th, 2019]
- AI News: Track The Latest Artificial Intelligence Trends And ... [Last Updated On: November 18th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 18th, 2019]
- AI in contact centres: It's time to stop talking about artificial intelligence - Verdict [Last Updated On: November 20th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 20th, 2019]
- Newsrooms have five years to embrace artificial intelligence or they risk becoming irrelevant - Journalism.co.uk [Last Updated On: November 20th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 20th, 2019]
- Scientists used IBM Watson to discover an ancient humanoid stick figure - Business Insider [Last Updated On: November 20th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 20th, 2019]
- The Mark Foundation Funds Eight Projects at the Intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Cancer Research - BioSpace [Last Updated On: November 20th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 20th, 2019]
- Colorado at the forefront of AI and what it means for jobs of the future - The Denver Channel [Last Updated On: November 20th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 20th, 2019]
- Highlights: Addressing fairness in the context of artificial intelligence - Brookings Institution [Last Updated On: November 20th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 20th, 2019]
- Artificial intelligence won't kill journalism or save it, but the sooner newsrooms buy in, the better - Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard [Last Updated On: November 20th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 20th, 2019]
- How To Get Your Rsum Past The Artificial Intelligence Gatekeepers - Forbes [Last Updated On: November 20th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 20th, 2019]
- Epiq expands company-wide initiative to accelerate the deployment of artificial intelligence for clients globally - GlobeNewswire [Last Updated On: November 20th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 20th, 2019]
- Preparing the Military for a Role on an Artificial Intelligence Battlefield - The National Interest Online [Last Updated On: November 20th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 20th, 2019]
- Podcast decodes ethics in artificial intelligence and its relevance to public - Daily Bruin [Last Updated On: November 20th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 20th, 2019]
- Global Military Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Cybernetics Market Report, 2019-2024: Focus on Platforms, Technologies, Applications and Services -... [Last Updated On: November 20th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 20th, 2019]
- Artificial intelligence warning: Development of AI is comparable to nuclear bomb - Express.co.uk [Last Updated On: November 20th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 20th, 2019]
- Google's new study reveals 'Artificial Intelligence benefiting journalism' - Digital Information World [Last Updated On: November 23rd, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 23rd, 2019]
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Retail Market worth $15.3 billion by 2025 - Exclusive Report by Meticulous Research - GlobeNewswire [Last Updated On: November 23rd, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 23rd, 2019]
- With artificial intelligence to a better wood product - Newswise [Last Updated On: November 23rd, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 23rd, 2019]
- Report to Congress on Artificial Intelligence and National Security - USNI News [Last Updated On: November 23rd, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 23rd, 2019]
- Most plastic is not getting recycled, and AI robots could be a solution - Business Insider [Last Updated On: November 23rd, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 23rd, 2019]
- Fujifilm Showcases Artificial Intelligence Initiative And Advances AI - AiThority [Last Updated On: November 23rd, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 23rd, 2019]
- Artificial intelligence could be one of the most valuable tools mankind has built - here's one small but meani - Business Insider India [Last Updated On: November 23rd, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 23rd, 2019]
- Artificial Intelligence: A Need of Modern 'Intelligent' Education - Thrive Global [Last Updated On: November 23rd, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 23rd, 2019]
- Drones And Artificial Intelligence Help Combat The San Francisco Bays Trash Problem - Forbes [Last Updated On: November 23rd, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 23rd, 2019]
- DesignCon Expands Into Artificial Intelligence, Automotive, 5G, IoT, and More For 2020 Edition - I-Connect007 [Last Updated On: November 23rd, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 23rd, 2019]
- Is St. Louis ready for artificial intelligence? It will steal white-collar jobs here, too - STLtoday.com [Last Updated On: November 23rd, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 23rd, 2019]
- IT chiefs recognise the risks of artificial intelligence bias - ComputerWeekly.com [Last Updated On: November 23rd, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 23rd, 2019]
- PNNL researchers working to improve doctor-patient care through artificial intelligence - NBC Right Now [Last Updated On: November 28th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 28th, 2019]
- How Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence Are Helping Entrepreneurs Create a Better Customer Experience - CTOvision [Last Updated On: November 28th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 28th, 2019]
- Manufacturing Leaders' Summit: Realising the promise of Artificial Intelligence - Manufacturer.com [Last Updated On: November 28th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 28th, 2019]
- 2019 Artificial Intelligence in Precision Health - Dedication to Discuss & Analyze AI Products Related to Precision Healthcare Already Available -... [Last Updated On: November 28th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 28th, 2019]
- Artificial intelligence will affect Salt Lake, Ogden more than most areas in the nation, study shows - KSL.com [Last Updated On: November 28th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 28th, 2019]
- It Pays To Break Artificial Intelligence Out Of The Lab, Study Confirms - Forbes [Last Updated On: November 28th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 28th, 2019]
- The Best Artificial Intelligence Stocks of 2019 -- and The Top AI Stock for 2020 - The Motley Fool [Last Updated On: November 28th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 28th, 2019]
- Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) Market Research Report 2019-2024 - Embedded AI in Support of IoT Things/Objects Will Reach $4.6B Globally by... [Last Updated On: December 1st, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 1st, 2019]
- How Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence Are Helping Entrepreneurs Create a Better Customer Experience - Entrepreneur [Last Updated On: December 1st, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 1st, 2019]
- SC Proposes Introduction Of Artificial Intelligence In Justice Delivery System - Inc42 Media [Last Updated On: December 1st, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 1st, 2019]
- Artificial intelligence in FX 'may be hype' - FX Week [Last Updated On: December 1st, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 1st, 2019]
- Fujifilm Showcases Artificial Intelligence Initiative And Advances at RSNA 2019 - Imaging Technology News [Last Updated On: December 1st, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 1st, 2019]
- The Surprising Way Artificial Intelligence Is Transforming Transportation - Forbes [Last Updated On: December 1st, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 1st, 2019]
- Artificial Intelligence in 2020: The Architecture and the Infrastructure - Gigaom [Last Updated On: December 2nd, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 2nd, 2019]
- AI IN BANKING: Artificial intelligence could be a near $450 billion opportunity for banks - here are the strat - Business Insider India [Last Updated On: December 2nd, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 2nd, 2019]
- The impact of artificial intelligence on humans - Bangkok Post [Last Updated On: December 2nd, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 2nd, 2019]
- Should the EU embrace artificial intelligence, or fear it? - EURACTIV [Last Updated On: December 8th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 8th, 2019]
- BioSig Technologies Announces New Collaboration on Development of Artificial Intelligence Solutions in Healthcare - GlobeNewswire [Last Updated On: December 8th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 8th, 2019]
- Artificial intelligence-based fitness is promising but may not be for everyone - Livemint [Last Updated On: December 8th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 8th, 2019]
- Pondering the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence in Health Care Kansas City Experts Team Up on Emerging - Flatland [Last Updated On: December 8th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 8th, 2019]
- Baidu Leads the Way in Innovation with 5712 Artificial Intelligence Patent Applications - GlobeNewswire [Last Updated On: December 8th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 8th, 2019]
- Artificial Intelligence and National Security, and More from CRS - Secrecy News [Last Updated On: December 8th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 8th, 2019]
- Longer Looks: The Psychology Of Voting; Overexcited Neurons And Artificial Intelligence; And More - Kaiser Health News [Last Updated On: December 8th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 8th, 2019]
- Emotion Artificial Intelligence Market Business Opportunities and Forecast from 2019-2025 | Eyesight Technologies, Affectiva - The Connect Report [Last Updated On: December 8th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 8th, 2019]
- The next generation of user experience is artificially intelligent - ZDNet [Last Updated On: December 8th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 8th, 2019]
- What Jobs Will Artificial Intelligence Affect? - EHS Today [Last Updated On: December 8th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 8th, 2019]
- Will the next Mozart or Picasso come from artificial intelligence? No, but here's what might happen instead - Ladders [Last Updated On: December 8th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 8th, 2019]
- Artificial intelligence apps, Parkinsons and me - BBC News [Last Updated On: December 8th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 8th, 2019]
- VA launches National Artificial Intelligence Institute to drive research and development - FierceHealthcare [Last Updated On: December 8th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 8th, 2019]