Several Top Names Call for Action on the Regulation and Prohibition of AI Superintelligence
Many high profile public figures, along with multiple AI “godfathers” and array of religious, media, and tech experts, have released a letter calling for a ban on AI “superintelligence that threatens humanity.”
The letter, “Statement on Superintelligence,” which was put forward by the Future of Life Institute (FLI), is concise: it calls for a “prohibition on the development of superintelligence,” which it says should not be “lifted before there is broad scientific consensus that it will be done safely and controllably” as well as with “strong public buy-in.”
The letter cites recent polling from FLI, which was cofounded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Max Tegmark, showing that only 5% of Americans are in favor of the rapid and unregulated development of advanced AI tools, while more than 73% support “robust” regulatory action on AI.
Around 64%, meanwhile, said they felt that until superintelligence—or an AI model that surpasses human-level intelligence—could be proven to be safe or controllable, it shouldn’t be built.
Prominent signatories leading their voices to the charge include tech and business experts such as Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak and Virgin founder Richard Branson; influential right-wing media voices such as “War Room” host Steve Bannon and talk radio host Glenn Beck, as well as left-leaning entertainers such as Joseph Gordon-Levitt; Prince Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex; Mike Mullen, the retired U.S. Navy Admiral who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama; and a large consortium of AI experts and scientists including Turing award winner Yoshua Bengio and Nobel Prize laureate Geoffrey Hinton, two consequential AI researchers who each hold the title “godfather of AI.”
"In the past, it's mostly been the nerds versus the nerds," said Tegmark. "I feel what we're really seeing here is how the criticism has gone very mainstream."
According to Futurism, the letter doesn’t clarify the reality that AI doesn’t have to reach superintelligence to cause chaos: as it stands, generative AI tools such as chatbots and image and video-creation tools are upending education, transforming the web into an increasingly misinformation-prone and unreal environment, expediting the creation and dissemination of nonconsensual and illegal pornography, and sending users of all ages spinning into mental health crises and reality breaks that have resulted in outcomes including divorce, homelessness, jail, involuntary commitments, self-harm, and death.
Futurism also pointed out the notable missing names, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, DeepMind cofounder and Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks, and xAI founder Elon Musk.
“Yeah, we want specific AI tools that can help cure diseases, strengthen national security, etc. But does AI also need to imitate humans, groom our kids, turn us all into slop junkies and make zillions of dollars serving ads? Most people don’t want that. But that’s what these big tech companies mean when they talk about building ‘Superintelligence,’” said Gordon-Levitt.
Read the full statement here.