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The simultaneous excitement and fear surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) are truly remarkable.
On the one hand, companies and investors are pouring billions into the technology, with interest accelerating since Microsoft-backed OpenAI in November publicly released the conversational chatbot ChatGPT that many are calling a tipping point for AI. “Generative AI will change business models and how work gets done and, in the process, reinvent entire industries,” a recent PwC report declared.
On the other hand, controversy is billowing. In May, AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton warned that AI could pose a “more urgent” threat than climate change. A month earlier, billionaire Elon Musk and hundreds of others issued an open letter calling for a six-month pause on advanced AI work, citing “profound risks to society and humanity.” And on May 16, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told a Senate committee he favors the creation of a new government licensing body for large-scale AI models.
Whew! Let’s catch our breaths for a moment. To be sure, AI systems are growing smarter at a staggering pace — able to understand not only text but images, starting to rival humans at general tasks, and even, as some suggest, beginning to approach true human-level intelligence. As a society, we should care deeply about where AI is heading and, of course, make sure the technology is safe before it is deployed.
