This illustration picture shows icons of Google’s AI app BardAI , OpenAI’s app ChatGPT and other AI apps on a smartphone screen in Oslo, on July 12, 2023. More than a dozen countries and some of the world’s biggest tech firms pledged on Wednesday to cooperate against the potential dangers of artificial intelligence, including its ability to dodge human control, as they wrapped up a global summit in Seoul.AI safety was front and centre of the agenda at the two-day gathering.
The ministers’ statement followed a commitment on Tuesday by some of the biggest AI companies, including ChatGPT maker OpenAI and Google DeepMind, to share how they assess the risks of their tech, including what is considered “intolerable”.The 16 tech firms also committed to not deploying a system where they cannot keep risks under those limits.
“Simultaneously, we must turn our attention to risk mitigation outside these models, ensuring that society as a whole becomes resilient to the risks posed by AI.”The summit also saw a separate commitment — the so-called Seoul AI Business Pledge — from a group of tech companies including South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and US titan IBM, to develop AI responsibly.
However, critics, rights activists and governments have warned that the technology can be misused in a wide variety of ways, including election manipulation through AI-generated disinformation such as “deepfake” pictures and videos of politicians. Jack Clark, co-founder of the AI startup Anthropic, said consensus on AI safety cannot be left to tech firms alone, and that government and academic experts are needed in the conversation.