Tuesday Thinkers on "The Plea for a Moratorium on AI" 11Apr 3pm SLT

[Moon Adamant]

An open letter signed by thousands of experts, scientists, entrepreneurs (including Elon Musk!) and even politicians (such as Andrew Yang), worried about the emergence of powerful AI, with a predictable short-term reduction of human jobs, and possibly a long-term apocalyptic scenario if the technology remained unchecked. They publicly asked for a 6-month moratorium on AI development to allow ethical regulation to emerge, as it happened with technologies such as human cloning or even eugenics.

Read the open letter at https://futureoflife.org/open-letter/pause-giant-ai-experiments/ and come to discuss it with us at Pip Torok CC in Alpine Meadow!

[Jerry McNally]

Sad to not be able to make this, but I think this article is vital reading before your meeting.

A misleading open letter about sci-fi AI dangers ignores the real risks – AI Snake Oil
We agree that misinformation, impact on labor, and safety are three of the main risks of AI. Unfortunately, in each case, the letter presents a speculative, futuristic risk, ignoring the version of the problem that is already harming people. It distracts from the real issues and makes it harder to address them. The letter has a containment mindset analogous to nuclear risk, but that’s a poor fit for AI. It plays right into the hands of the companies it seeks to regulate.

And here's an interesting Twitter thread about that letter from Emily Bender, who certainly knows what she's talking about.