A group of EU politicians have called for a “safe” development of artificial intelligence (AI) while tech directors expressed concerns about its societal impacts. A dozen European Union (EU) politicians have signed an open letter calling for a cooperative effort and a universal set of rules around the development of AI. The EU politicians asked the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and United States President Joe Biden to convene a peak on AI and to agree on a set of governing principles for the development, control, and deployment of the tech.
The letter also asked the headliners of the Trade and Technology Council to agree on a primary docket for the proposed AI peak, and for companies and countries worldwide to “strive for an ever-adding sense of responsibility” while developing AI. The European Union is also looking at AI with its Artificial Intelligence Act, and the European Data Protection Board has created a task force for the generative AI chatbot ChatGPT.
Google CEO Pichai Sundararajan, also known as Sundar Pichai, expressed caution around the rapid-fire development of AI, saying that society might need time to acclimatize to the new tech. “You do not want to put a technology out like this when it’s veritably, veritably important because it gives society no time to acclimatize,” he said.
The EU politicians’ letter echoes the same concerns put forward by over 2,600 tech leaders and experimenters who called for a temporary pause on further AI development. However, the EU politicians disagreed with “some of its further alarmist statements”. Tesla CEO Elon Musk continued to punctuate the threat he believes AI could pose, saying that just like any other technology, AI has the potential to be misused if it’s developed with ill intentions.
It is vital to proceed with caution and care when it comes to AI. The development and deployment of AI should prioritize ethical considerations and societal impacts. With the rapid pace of technological progress, it is essential to have a united front and a universal set of rules around the development of AI.
