Elon Musk wants to pause AI training - but that’s a terrible idea
[Not written by ChatGPT]
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The AI genie is out of the bottle, riding on a horse that has left the barn, and I wish good luck to anyone attempting to pause AI development and training for 6 minutes, let alone six months.
“Pause Giant AI Experiments: An Open Letter” is a call to action (or inaction) signed without irony by, among others, Elon Musk (he foundedOpenAIwith Sam Altmanin 2015before walking away), and the core ask is fairly simple: “We call on all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful thanGPT-4.” It means that a growing number of experts are terrified by what they’ve seen of OpenAI’s GPT-4 (and perhaps earlier and competing AIs likeGoogle Bard, andBing AI, which uses a custom blend of ChatGPT).
I get it. While there’s no claim of sentience in the note, the signatories refer to these AI systems as having “human-competitive” intelligence. There’s no doubt in my mind that any of these Chatbots can outthink humans when it comes to data retrieval and even the crafting of factual-sounding content. On the other hand, we’ve all seen how widely imperfect even the best of these AIs can be. They still have a habit ofpresenting false information as truth.
If anything, these AIs needmoretraining right now and not less.
What I mean is that even if we pause large language model (LLM) training for six months, no one will stop usingBing, Bard, andChatGPT. Thanks to things like the newChatGPT Plugins, they will be a part of many of the services and apps we use every day. These systems' abilities to understand us, respond in kind, and get their damn facts straight will be more important than ever.
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Musk and company seem to fear out-of-control AIs when the reality is we’ll all be controlling them every day. The question is, what we do with the information they give us?
This letter should’ve warned against blindly trusting AIs, regardless of their current and future computation and competitive power, not about a pause in training.
Let’s say, for a moment, thatGoogle, OpenAI, and various partners all agree to pause this training. Should we assume that everyone around the world will do the same? Should we expect China or Russia to pause their own training efforts?
Of course not. This is officially an arms race, and stepping out even temporarily could be disastrous for the US’s (and its largely Western global partners) position in the AI race.
It’s not that I entirely disagree with the letter. This bit makes sense: “implement a set of shared safety protocols for advanced AI design and development that are rigorously audited and overseen by independent outside experts.”
It also assumes that none of this has been happening. OpenAI was developed forthis express purpose.
Do I fear AI? Not really. Do I think AI should be developed and managed in a responsible way? Of course.
Do I think pausing AI training will help in this effort? Not one little bit.
BTW, I asked ChatGPT (based on the dumber GPT-3) its opinion. Unsurprisingly, it took the high road.
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A 38-year industry veteran andaward-winning journalist, Lance has covered technology since PCs were the size of suitcases and “on line” meant “waiting.” He’s a former Lifewire Editor-in-Chief, Mashable Editor-in-Chief, and, before that, Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for Ziff Davis, Inc. He also wrote a popular, weekly tech column for Medium called The Upgrade.
Lance Ulanoffmakes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Live with Kelly and Mark, theToday Show, Good Morning America, CNBC, CNN, and the BBC.
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