Sam Altman, Open AI CEO (Image credit : Vox news)
The developer of the sophisticated chatbot ChatGPT has requested that artificial intelligence (AI) be regulated by US politicians.
The founder and CEO of the business that created ChatGPT, Sam Altman, spoke to a US Senate committee on Tuesday about the advantages and disadvantages of the new technology.
Several AI models have hit the market in recent months.
A new body should be established, according to Mr. Altman, to license AI businesses.
While ChatGPT and other programs of a similar nature can produce responses to queries that are remarkably human-like, they can also be spectacularly wrong.
Mr. Altman, 38, has essentially become the industry’s spokesperson. He has pushed for stronger regulation and has not shied away from addressing the ethical issues that AI brings.
He compared AI to “the printing press” in size while recognizing the risks it may pose.
He also acknowledged the potential effects of AI on the economy, including the chance that some jobs could be replaced by AI technology, resulting in employment losses in specific industries.
“There will be an impact on jobs. We try to be very clear about that,” he said.
However, several senators suggested that in order to make it simpler for citizens to sue OpenAI, new legislation were required.
Mr. Altman expressed concern to lawmakers about the possible effects on democracy and the possibility of using AI to disinformation campaigns during elections.
He made a number of recommendations for how a new US body should control the sector, including by issuing and withdrawing permits to AI firms.
He added that companies like OpenAI should undergo independent audits.
Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican, said the technique might be transformative but also likened it to the development of the “atomic bomb.”
A future controlled by AI, according to Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal, “is not necessarily the future that we want.”
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“We need to maximize the good over the bad. Congress has a choice now. We had the same choice when we faced social media. We failed to seize that moment,” he warned.
The testimony made it quite evident that both political parties support the creation of a new organization to oversee the business.
However, because technology is developing so quickly, lawmakers have questioned whether such an organization would be able to keep up.
