AI Showdown: Embrace the Future or Pump the Brakes?

The Choice That Will Define Our Legal Landscape

Author

Suzi Hixon
02 May

Avante Garde Lady Justice; AI Artwork created by Suzi Hixon and Night Cafe (rrgh, those pesky AI fingers and eyes!)

AI development is a hot topic, with opinions more polarized than a Taylor Swift breakup-get-back-together-breakup song. So, should we put a pause on AI or not? Let's break it down.

Hello, Human! And Happy TuesdAI!

I know I promised you tech tools and tips, but right now, I can't help but be laser-focused on the raging debate in the AI world.

I feel like I'm drinking from a fire hose as news about AI and its real-world implications comes out.

Here are three of the most recent developments:

  1. 80% of US workers are likely to have some of their work tasks affected by GPT, according to recent research on the labor market by OpenAI.

  2. Geoffrey Hinton, one of the “Godfathers of AI,” just quit his job at Google allegedly so he could speak more openly about AI. Hinton isn’t a nobody when it comes to machine learning. He actually trained one of the founders of OpenAI.

  1. IBM is pausing hiring jobs that an AI could perform.

With bigwigs like Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak signing an open letter calling for a moratorium on AI development, there's a whole lotta buzz about whether we should pump the brakes on large language models (LLM) "more powerful than" GPT-4.

The letter reads, in part:

"Contemporary AI systems are now becoming human-competitive at general tasks, and we must ask ourselves: Should we let machines flood our information channels with propaganda and untruth? Should we automate away all the jobs, including the fulfilling ones? Should we develop nonhuman minds that might eventually outnumber, outsmart, obsolete and replace us? Should we risk loss of control of our civilization? Such decisions must not be delegated to unelected tech leaders. Powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable."

~Important, Super Smart People

Interestingly, no one from OpenAI, the company behind the LLM GPT-4, has signed this letter.

Let's dive into the key arguments, as we lawyers are inclined to do, for and against pausing AI development.

The Case for Pausing AI Development

  1. Unintended Consequences: By pausing AI development, we can take a step back, assess the risks, and say, "Hol' up! Let's not get our wires crossed and end up with misinformation or cyber-crime running rampant."

  2. AI Safety and Control: A pause could be our (only) chance to develop more robust safety measures and ensure AI is more transparent and aligns with our human values.

  3. Ethical Concerns: A temporary halt gives us the opportunity to tackle ethical issues, like fairness and accountability, and create guidelines that even the most tech-intimidated among us can follow.

  4. Public Input and Policy Development: Pressing pause lets the public have their say and gives policymakers a chance to roll up their sleeves and craft regulations that keep AI in check.

I'm not sure about you, but these people who argue the above must be fun at parties.🥳

Now, if you want to get super depressed, go read anything by Eliezer Yudkowsky, or listen to any of the recent podcasts he’s been on. Mr. Yudkowsky, another one who is clearly a blast at parties (but someone I admire and respect) is a researcher, writer, and philosopher on the topic of superintelligent AI, and he’s been warning us for a while now about the dangers of AGI.

He basically takes the position that it’s gonna kill us all.

The Case for Letting the Good Times Roll

  1. Economic Advantages: AI is the key to unlocking efficiency, cost savings, and new industries that'll have us all singing, "Money printer goes brrrrrrrr!"

  2. Technological Progress: If we halt AI development, we might as well tell innovation to take a sick day.

  3. Global Competitiveness: In the race for AI supremacy, pressing pause could leave anyone wanting to play by the rules eating dust while others zoom ahead. (And we know not everyone plays by the rules.)

  4. Potential Societal Benefits: AI has the power to shake up healthcare, education, access to justice, and environmental sustainability, so hitting the brakes could mean missing out on those game-changers.

  5. Addressing Risks Through Regulation: Instead of pausing, some brainiacs argue we should focus on creating and enforcing regulations to keep AI on the straight and narrow.

This debate's hotter than Elon's flamethrower, and it's got us all wondering whether we should pause AI development or keep forging ahead.

The important thing is to consider the ethical implications and potential consequences while keeping our eyes on the prize: a balanced, informed approach to policymaking.

The future of AI may be uncertain, but one thing's for sure:

The decisions we make today will shape the world we live in tomorrow.

What's your take on this high-stakes AI debate?

Should we hit "pause" on AI development to address the risks, or should we forge ahead and embrace its potential?

I don’t know the answer. I just pray that we can integrate AI into our lives to make everyday living and the lives of others better.

And in the meantime, may the force of legal precedence be with you! ⚖️🤖

Suzi

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