US President Joe Biden on Tuesday told a meeting of advisers on the rapidly emerging artificial intelligence (AI) sector that the jury was still out on whether AI poses a danger to society.
It “remains to be seen. It could be,” said Biden, when asked by reporters if AI is dangerous.
Biden told the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, a group of experts from research universities and business, that AI could help combat “very difficult challenges like disease and climate change.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
However, he said tech companies had to “address the potential risks to our society, to our economy, to our national security.”
“Tech companies have a responsibility in my view to make sure the products are safe,” he said. “Absent safeguards, we see the impact on mental health and self-image.”
Biden reiterated his earlier recommendations that the US Congress pass laws putting “strict limits” on personal data collected by tech companies and banning advertising targeted at children.
US companies are at the forefront of the burgeoning AI sector, which is transforming the power of machines to do everything from writing e-mails for people to driving their vehicles.
Last month, Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk and Apple Inc cofounder Steve Wozniak signed a letter, along with more than 1,000 signatories, urging a six-month pause in research on AI systems.
“AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity,” said the open letter titled “Pause Giant AI Experiments.”
Separately, Canada on Tuesday announced that it has opened an investigation into the US-based software firm behind ChatGPT, the AI chatbot.
The investigation by the Canadian Office of the Privacy Commissioner into OpenAI was opened in response to a “complaint alleging the collection, use and disclosure of personal information without consent,” the agency said.
ChatGPT caused a global sensation when it was released in November last year for its ability to generate essays, songs, exams and even news articles from brief prompts.
However, critics have long fretted that it was unclear where ChatGPT and its competitors got their data or how they processed it.
“We need to keep up with — and stay ahead of — fast-moving technological advances, and that is one of my key focus areas,” Commissioner Philippe Dufresne said.
Meanwhile, Italy on Friday last week also became the first country in the Western world to block ChatGPT over concerns about data use.
The European police agency Europol recently warned that criminals are poised to take advantage of artificial intelligence, such as conversational bots, to commit fraud and other cybercrimes.
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