Expert Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence

 

Artificial Intelligence continually proves to be an exceedingly complex issue, so consulting the informed opinions of experts is often necessary when discussing the topic. Two of the best experts on the topic are, Sam Altman, the CEO of Open AI, the company responsible for the ground-breaking technology that is Chat-GPT, and the other expert being physicist, machine learning researcher and professor at MIT, Max Tegmark.

 

Sam Altman and Max Tegmark both have opinions that overlap, but principally their approach to the current development of AI are in opposition with each other Sam Altman holds the view that while artificial intelligence poses serious risks, the most effective way to move forward is to make experimental and advanced AI available with transparency into its processing and logic. 

 

This approach will enable us to learn as much as we can before we reach the stage of Artificial General Intelligence.He proposes that this will enable us to have as much knowledge and experience of the technology needed to appropriately wield and control it.

 

Max Tegmark however, maintains a very sobering and cautious outlook on the matter, believing that all major development in the AI field needs to be paused until we learn more about it, so that it doesn’t get out of our hands before we have a hold on it. He even went as far as to write an open letter calling for all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6months, the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4.

 

Altman’s argument for releasing as much AI as possible to the public in order to learn as much as we can about it also holds much utility as well, saying that releasing developing forms of AI to the public is vital so that it is not tested within a vacuum, but rather can be tested with the public and then adjusted and altered after certain faults and deficiencies arise due to the feedback they receive. In effect, he believes that we should make as many mistakes as we can while the stakes are still low.

 

With the conflicting perspectives from various experts in the field, it seems impossible to satisfy all the valid concerns that have been proposed by the experts, so perhaps a healthy balance, a place in the middle, is what would be the best and safest course of action. A scenario where the transparency behind AI is upheld, ethical considerations and regulations are implemented and governmental regulations are introduced to appropriately steer the use of AI in a safer direction.

 

What is most important is that we are weary of what we are getting ourselves into and that we don’t allow the excitement and anticipation of the possibility of AGI and more to entice us into being complacent and irresponsible.

 

Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge, for knowledge is always limited, but imagination encircles the world”. This quote reminds us that no matter how advanced AI may become in the next few years, only humans are capable of humanity. Pure imagination is something exclusive to humans, so we must be careful not to let our imagination breed a craving for knowledge and intelligence that ultimately puts us at risk of severe consequences. 

 

 

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Written by Roselina Vundi