Elon Musk and over 1,000 industry experts signed an open letter calling for a pause on advanced AI development. The letter, issued by the non-profit Future of Life Institute, calls for a 6-month pause on training AI systems more powerful than GPT-4.
The positive possibilities of AI are significant, but the authors warn of the risks of out-of-control AI development. The most advanced publicly available AI system is GPT-4, and the letter calls for a pause on development of any system more powerful than that.
The letter urges AI companies to create and implement a set of shared safety protocols overseen by independent experts. Notable AI experts, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and researchers at Alphabet’s AI lab DeepMind, have also signed the letter. The letter accuses AI labs of being “locked in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy” powerful tech.
The launch of OpenAI’s viral chatbot ChatGPT appears to have prompted several other companies to launch competing AI products. OpenAI’s latest offering, GPT-4, has been hailed as more creative and smarter than its popular predecessor. The Future of Life Institute’s open letter says the six-month pause is not for general AI development, but rather a step back from the “dangerous race.”