Why it matters: Concerns about powerful AI systems are growing.
Appearing in Congress on May 16, Mr. Altman implored lawmakers to regulate artificial intelligence. Congressional leaders have expressed concern about the threats AI could pose, including the spread of misinformation and privacy violations.
“I think if this technology goes wrong, it could go terribly wrong. We want to be outspoken about that,” Mr. Altman said in testimony before members of a Senate subcommittee.
In March, more than 1,000 tech leaders and researchers, including Tesla CEO and Twitter owner Elon Musk, called for a moratorium on the development of the most advanced artificial intelligence systems, warning in an open letter that, These tools provide “deep meaning.” Risks to society and humanity. “
In their latest report, OpenAI leaders said, “It is conceivable that within the next 10 years, AI systems will surpass the level of expert skill in most domains and perform as many productive activities as one of the largest corporations today.”
Context: Tech giants are vying for dominance in a fast-growing market.
The latest AI tools could upend the internet’s economy, turning today’s tech giants into obsolete corporations and creating the industry’s next giants.
Tech companies have spent billions on artificial intelligence amid growing concerns that it could match human reasoning and destroy jobs. Goldman Sachs recently estimated that, AI could automate 300 million full-time jobs.
BuzzFeed just launched a chatbot that offers recipe recommendations.
What’s next: Congress is struggling to keep up.
During a hearing last week, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who chairs the Senate panel, acknowledged that Congress had failed to keep up with new technology. He added that the hearing was the first in a series of hearings to explore the potential of artificial intelligence and eventually “create the rules” for it.
“Our goal is to demystify and account for these new technologies to avoid some of the mistakes of the past,” he said.
But over the years, partisanship and intense lobbying by the tech industry have stalled dozens of bills aimed at tightening rules on privacy, speech and security.
