#AI #GoodUseOfAI #BadUseOfAI #ThreatsOfAI #AIRegulation
Some people who are working on AI research are blowing the whistle on its unchecked development.
They are saying that AI could kill off all humanity in a few short years.
Some AI companies are offering options for how best to regulate AI to only do good.
But something that powerful in the wrong hands, or even left to its own devices unsupervised by humans, could be devastating.
Some of us might sit back and say the hyperbole is just that.
Others might curl up and think the worst is inevitable.
Uncertainty can activate impulses in one’s imagination, but it’s best for rational thinkers – even if they don’t yet know fully what AI can or can’t do – to plan the ultimate AI rollout with the proper vetting and, yes, imagination.
First, establish what AI can do, how best that function can be used for good and pass rules and regulations preventing the bad things from occurring.
That’s easier said than done, of course, but a good start might be to make the developing companies responsible for what their product(s) does and causes. They reap the rewards and cover the damage(s).
That may confine research, and it won’t stop every bad actor. Still, it’s a good start, considering the uncertainty.
Every tool developed over time has its good and bad applications. A hammer used on nails is good. A hammer used on, say, people, is bad.
But, a hammer is a simple tool. AI is much more complicated. The good potential that it has is combined with as much or more bad potential.
Having just celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, we see the good and bad things airplanes can do. Airplanes can do much more good, and much more evil, than a hammer.
The perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks wanted to kill us all. They killed some of us, but didn’t kill us all.
AI is much more complicated than an airplane. It must be rolled out with caution, careful consideration and with proper guardrails.
We cannot leave the creators to their own devices.
Remember, the creators have incentives to be careful. If their product kills all of humanity, who will pay them for their work?
As the average person, it’s important here to get a grip on AI. Just as it is unwise to presume that the better angels will prevail as it rolls out, it’s also unwise to believe that ONLY bad actors will control it.
Make sure you do all that you can to elect people who have courage to encourage the good and stop the bad. This is no time for laissez-faire attitudes.
Whether AI destroys humanity may not be in the hands of its creators and users entirely. It may be in the hands of those who set boundaries for the creators.
As with anything, bad actors can create weapons from very useful things. We must be diligent in making sure as few bad actors as possible get their hands on this technology.
What happens to you personally may not always be in your control. But, if it doesn’t kill you, it could make you stronger.
Peter