We will have to “limit the risks” of artificial intelligence (AI). And to achieve this, the creator of the ChatGPT interface believes on Tuesday that government intervention is “crucial”. “It is essential that the most powerful AI be developed with democratic values,” said Sam Altman, the boss of OpenAI on Tuesday.
The young entrepreneur who was speaking before a US parliamentary committee added: “Which means that the leadership of the United States is decisive. The launch of ChatGPT, in November, aroused immense interest from the public and companies for so-called generative artificial intelligence, that is to say capable of creating content – text, images, sounds or video – after being trained on huge databases.
AIs are no longer “science fiction fantasies”
“If you were listening from home, you probably thought it was my voice and my words, when it wasn’t my voice or my words,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the deputy Senate Committee on Privacy, Technology and Law. He had just delivered his opening remarks on the dangers of AI, written with ChatGPT and read by software trained on his real voice.
AI technologies “are no longer science fiction fantasies, they are real and present”, he added. The elected officials debated with the boss of OpenAI and two other experts on the need to regulate computer systems which could “literally destroy our lives”, according to the formula of Senator Lindsey Graham.
“Serious risks”
“Artificial intelligence has the potential to improve just about every aspect of our lives,” says Sam Altman, hoping that eventually generative AI will enable humanity to solve “its most important challenges” , such as global warming or cancer.
“But it also creates serious risks,” he acknowledged. “One of my biggest fears is that we, this industry, this technology, are causing significant harm to society,” he said. “If this technology goes the wrong way, it can go quite far. (…) And we want to work with the government to prevent that from happening. »
“Maximizing Security”
Sam Altman has regularly expressed his support for the establishment of a regulatory framework for artificial intelligence, preferably at the international level. “I know it seems naive to propose something like that, it seems very difficult” to achieve, but “there are precedents”, he explained, citing the example of the International Agency for atomic energy (IAEA).
Sam Altman recalled that while OpenAI LP, the entity that developed ChatGPT, was a private company, it was controlled by a non-profit organization, which “imposes us to work for the wide distribution of the benefits of AI and to maximize the security of AI-based systems,” he added.
A new federal agency?
He proposed the creation of a new federal agency, responsible for granting authorizations to organizations that develop AI systems of a certain level, and which “could withdraw them if they do not comply with security standards. “.
The idea of creating a federal agency has aroused some enthusiasm, but it would have to be given sufficient resources, underlined Richard Blumenthal. “And I’m not just talking about dollars, I’m talking about scientific expertise,” he said. Sam Altman, however, noted the risks of too much regulation: “If US industry slows down, China or someone else may progress faster. He also insisted that any measures should not stifle independent research, and focus instead on dominant companies like his.