Musk, Steve Wozniak call for pause on training of AI systems that can outperform GPT-4

Silicon Valley stalwarts, including the likes of billionaire Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, have asked people to hit the pause button on the training of artificial intelligence (AI) systems for at least six months, which are more powerful than GPT-4, citing risks it poses on society and humanity in general.

Writing an open letter to this effect, the stalwarts have said: “We call on all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4."

The open letter -- issued by non-profit Future of Life Institute and signed by more than 1,000 people, including Musk, Wozniak and Stability AI CEO Emad Mostaque -- has called for a pause on advanced AI development until a set of safety protocols for advanced AI design and development are in place.

These experts have demanded that the AI systems adhering to these safety protocols are safe beyond a reasonable doubt. 

“Powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable. This confidence must be well justified and increase with the magnitude of a system's potential effects," the letter read further.

The letter further detailed all the potential risks AI systems can have on society, leading to economic and political disruptions. It also called on developers to work with policymakers and other regulatory authorities on issues of governance.

This is not the first instance where a call to check the advance of AI has been made. The European Union police force, Europol, for instance, has emphasised recently on the ethical and legal concerns over advanced AI, such as GPT-4.

Recently, even ChatGPT-maker Sam Altman also acknowledged that there are several major dangers of using AI chatbots like ChatGPT. Altman mentioned that AI chatbots can eat up several jobs, spanning across industries. In a recent interview with podcast host Lex Fridman, he also revealed that customer care service is something that is quite vulnerable due to AI automation.

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