About the open letter to pause AI dev
Science Fiction and The Three Laws of Robotics
Science Fiction and The Three Laws of Robotics
I remember as a kid being so impressed by Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of robotics.
Amid all the “cheap disposable sci-fi” being written in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, this felt like a very thoughtful effort to describe and shape a future where these incredible advancements he was dreaming about were a reality.
Asimov’s writing led me from his fiction to some of his science writing and paved the way for me for Carl Sagan’s Cosmos TV show and his writing about science and James Burke’s delicious Connections TV show.
The Three Laws of Robotics seemed almost overkill at the time when most authors just added futuristic-sounding nonsense (“proton torpedoes”, “positronic brain” and other technobabble). But this is not overkill anymore. We live in that world now, and we need principles like these.
The Asilomar AI Principles
The Asilomar AI Principles were developed in 2017 to guide the development and use of AI technology in a way that is safe, ethical, and beneficial for society.
They cover a range of issues, including transparency, accountability, safety, and fairness, calling for transparency and explainability in AI systems, so that humans can understand how they work and make informed decisions about their use.
The principles also emphasize the need for safety measures to prevent unintended harm from AI systems, as well as accountability mechanisms to ensure that those who develop and use AI are held responsible for their actions.
Additionally, they call for fairness in the development and deployment of AI, so that the benefits and risks of the technology are distributed equitably across society.
The Open letter to pause AI Dev for 6 months
It is less clear, however, how we can put the genie back in the bottle for 6 months, and how we can all agree to take the same pause to reflect. Once again technology outpaces society, transforming the world in ways we can’t anticipate, and impacting the way we live.
It feels like going blindfolded, downhill at full speed on a rollercoaster built by a bunch of enthusiastic but easily distracted kids, using off-brand Legos held together with cardboard and generic adhesive tape. The ride is exhilarating, but where and how it ends is quite uncertain.
Something needs to be done and this open letter, flawed as it may be, is a start. Everybody who works in technology, and everybody that gets impacted by technology (that is…everybody) should familiarize themselves with responsible, ethical principles of AI so that they are respected in anything we build, and so as users, we demand that these are respected.
After all, we are just building the foundations of the world we and our children are going to be living in. No big deal, right?