A two-day summit was held at Bletchley Park in England starting last Tuesday to address the potential risk that artificial intelligence (AI) may pose to humanity. Delegates from the United States, China, the European Union and other nations attended the event. Also in attendance were TeslaMotors CEO Elon Musk as well as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Artificial intelligence is a hundred-billion-dollar industry that holds influence over a wide range of other industries, including healthcare, finance, manufacturing and transportation. Artificial intelligence is not just used by chatbots such as ChatGPT and Google Bard but also by companies and services that you use on a daily basis, such as navigation systems and the facial recognition system on your phone.
There are several reasons why artificial intelligence has been the subject of world leader’s worries. For example, hackers can potentially develop more effective cyberattacks with AI. This could also signify a deeper threat of potential cyber warfare between global powers.
Some jobs could also be replaced by AI. This would mostly impact low-skilled professions, and would thus increase economic inequality. According to Forbes, wealthy individuals—namely business owners—will heavily benefit from AI developments and those of low socioeconomic status will be at the highest risk of losing their jobs.
A co-founder of Google Deepmind, Mustafa Suleyman, claimed that artificial intelligence currently poses no “significant catastrophic harms” to the people and the economy, but that it may be wise to start thinking ahead in terms of safety regulations as the industry has nowhere to go but up.
28 nations signed the Bletchley Declaration. This was a mutual agreement to develop a greater understanding of the potential of artificial intelligence as well as to manage the risks that it poses. It further acknowledges that every nation involved has its own responsibility to continue the process of researching the capabilities of artificial intelligence as well as to work together with other nations to ensure a unified front.
Private companies will also be required to be transparent about their AI usage. It is important to every nation that public safety and security be prioritized in the Bletchley Declaration.
It is an achievement in itself that all of these countries have managed to cooperate. China’s presence at the summit was a subject of controversy, especially among the British hosts. China has a reputation for making investments in technology that are looked upon with suspicion by most Western nations.
The United States, according to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, is already developing potential solutions for the AI issue. President Biden recently signed an executive order that will require developers of artificial intelligence systems to share the results of their research with the U.S. government. The order also aims to protect Americans’ privacy as consumers, patients, workers and students. He also announced that the U.S. AI Safety Institute is being set up. Harris gave a speech during the summit, announcing the United States’ plans and goals for artificial intelligence regulation. She also held private meetings with some attendees.
The nations plan to meet again in South Korea in six months and again in France six months after that.
