Hundreds of public figures, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, are calling for a ban on so-called «superintelligence» — that is, a form of artificial intelligence that surpasses human intelligence and can make decisions without human input.
Hundreds of public figures, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, are calling for a ban on so-called «superintelligence» — that is, a form of artificial intelligence that surpasses human intelligence and can make decisions without human input.
According to CNBC, more than 850 prominent figures, including those in the technology sector, have signed a joint statement on this issue. In addition to Wozniak, they include the founder of the international conglomerate Virgin Group, Richard Branson.
The list of signatories is led by prominent AI pioneers, including computer scientists Joshua Bengio and Jeff Hinton, who are considered the «godfathers» of modern AI. Also among the signatories is leading AI researcher Stuart Russell of the University of California, Berkeley.
The signatories of the statement warn that the prospect of superintelligence raises concerns over a number of economic, social, and security implications, culminating in risks to «national security and even the potential extinction of humanity.»
The document calls for a ban on the development of superintelligence until a scientific consensus is reached that the technology can be safely created and controlled.
In addition to AI and technology figures, the statement was supported by academics, media figures, religious leaders, and a bipartisan group of former US politicians and officials.
For example, former US National Security Advisor Susan Rice is among them. In addition, the list includes Steve Bannon and Glenn Beck, influential allies of US President Donald Trump in the media.
Other notable signatories included members of the British royal family, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, and former Irish President Mary Robinson. As of Wednesday, the list of signatories continued to grow.
The signatories recall that before becoming CEO of OpenAI, Altman himself wrote in a 2015 blog post that «the development of superhuman machine intelligence is probably the greatest threat to the continued existence of humanity.»
Meanwhile, Elon Musk previously stated that there is «only a 20% chance of the destruction of humanity,» discussing the risks of advanced artificial intelligence surpassing human intelligence.
In a statement, computer scientist Bengio asserted that artificial intelligence systems could outperform most humans at cognitive tasks within a few years.
Earlier this year , OpenAI expressed confidence that it knew how to create AGI, and that «true artificial superintelligence» was the company’s next goal .
A few years ago, OpenAI was trying to raise as much money as possible from Microsoft to create AGI — AI that would be on par with human intelligence. The company had previously received $10 billion in investment for this.
