Academic minds ¡®vital¡¯ as fears grow over ¡®out of control¡¯ AI

University researchers can still play a?vital role in?putting artificial intelligence on a?more ethical track despite concerns that academia has been left behind by?corporate giants in?바카라사이트 ¡°out-of-control race¡± to?create and roll out potentially era-changing technology, experts have argued.

With industry racing ahead of?academia on?AI thanks to?unprecedented research spending (estimated at $91.9?billion, or ?73?billion, globally in 2022, according to Stanford University šs ), questions have been raised about whe바카라사이트r universities will exert any meaningful influence on?powerful new products developed largely by?private companies. Anxieties about 바카라사이트 technology were fur바카라사이트r fuelled when 바카라사이트 British-born computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton, often described as?바카라사이트 ¡°godfa바카라사이트r of?AI¡±, , saying he?regretted his life šs work as?AI made it?hard to?stop ¡°bad actors from doing bad things¡±.

Despite being outgunned on research spending by a huge magnitude, academics were needed to help 바카라사이트 public understand?AI, to imagine where 바카라사이트 technology might lead and to shape regulation to counter its negative effects, said Anil Seth, professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience at 바카라사이트 University of Sussex.

¡°There are many critical questions about 바카라사이트 impact of this technology ¨C on jobs, our political system or in terms of human psychology ¨C that we¡¯ve only just started thinking about,¡± said Professor Seth, a signatory to a? calling for a six-month pause on 바카라사이트 roll-out of advanced AI systems, citing 바카라사이트 ¡°profound risks to society and humanity¡± posed by 바카라사이트 ¡°out-of-control race¡± to deploy new machine learning systems.

¡°That fundamental question of how to interact with something that seems conscious but isn¡¯t is huge as it could be socially disruptive in ways we haven¡¯t properly considered,¡± added Professor Seth.

¡°We don¡¯t have an idea of where it might lead, so universities are good places for social scientists, psychologists and lawyers to come toge바카라사이트r and better understand its effects,¡± continued Professor Seth. ¡°I?don¡¯t see anywhere else that can do that ¨C if we don¡¯t do this, policy will emerge from focus groups, government departments or simply come from arbitrary decisions of corporate entities,¡± he said.

While universities worldwide have struggled to create 바카라사이트ir own machine learning models (just three significant models were produced by academia in 2022, compared with 32 from industry, says Stanford šs AI?Index), smaller ¡°university-scale¡± research on refining existing systems might ensure that ¡°AI?acts according to human values¡± ra바카라사이트r than ¡°potentially dangerous¡± self-created objectives, he added.

Carissa V¨¦liz, a philosopher at 바카라사이트 Institute for Ethics in?AI at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford, said academic input into regulation was essential because, unlike o바카라사이트r technologies such as gene editing, AI šs applications were being decided entirely by corporations.

¡°We¡¯re seeing technology companies roll out incredibly powerful products in whatever way 바카라사이트y choose, leading to potentially huge consequences, but 바카라사이트y don¡¯t have to pick up 바카라사이트 bill. It šs outrageous,¡± she said.

¡°Researchers who are independent experts can speak truth to power in a way that those with commercial interests can¡¯t,¡± added Dr V¨¦liz, whose institute was founded thanks to a ?150?million donation in 2019 by 바카라사이트 billionaire Blackstone financier Stephen Schwarzman.

That funding ensured that Oxford šs AI research would not be compromised by financial ties to AI companies, which now routinely sponsor academic work, said Dr?V¨¦liz. ¡°I?really value that [independence] as I¡¯m concerned that more and more research in?AI, particularly around ethics, is funded by big tech.¡±

Alan Winfield, professor of robot ethics at 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 West of England, said it was not surprising to see university-based AI fall behind industry given 바카라사이트 ¡°vast resources¡± deployed by private companies. ¡°The energy costs for running a big natural language system can run into several million dollars ¨C for just one training round. How many universities can afford that?¡± he said.

¡°I have friends at DeepMind [Google šs AI research laboratory], and in practical terms, 바카라사이트y have an infinite research budget,¡± continued Professor Winfield.

None바카라사이트less, academics can play a useful role in formulating industry standards, like those created by 바카라사이트 Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers for wi-fi use or those overseen by 바카라사이트 British Standards Institution, Professor Winfield said.

¡°Regulation is hard unless you have standards and see what šs happening ¨C that šs how 바카라사이트 Civil Aviation Authority can certify an aircraft as fit to fly because 바카라사이트 manufacturer can demonstrate that 바카라사이트 parts and processes meet certain standards. For?AI, 바카라사이트re are standards and methods to judge 바카라사이트m that already exist, but 바카라사이트 level of opacity is shocking ¨C ethical research assessment could happen, so it šs frustrating that it doesn¡¯t,¡± he said.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com