AI open letter authors: 'We want people to share our level of uncertainty'

The letter, published by the Future of Life Institute think tank and signed by AI experts as well as tech leaders Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak and Jaan Tallinn, cites a study by University of Washington as evidence for "AI systems with human-competitive intelligence" posing "profound risks to society and humanity."

But the authors of that paper, Emily Bender and Timnit Gebru, lashed out at the letter, calling it "AI hype" and "stupid," while claiming it misses the point of their research and could cause more harm than good.

Speaking to FRANCE 24, Mark Brakel, Director of Policy at the Future of Life Institute, responded to such criticisms by calling for an end to the schism in the AI safety community, between those who believe it poses an existential threat to civilisation, and those who would rather focus on current concerns like its use for misinformation or terrorism.

"We hope to bring these communities that come from very different approaches and different concerns together," Brakel said, "rather than debate one another about the way you get to the solution, even though we seemingly agree on what the solution might be."

Brakel also said that Vitalik Buterin, founder of the Ethereum cryptocurrency, was the Future of Life Institute's biggest donor in 2021 and continues to be so, a fact not yet reflected on the European Union's Transparency Register, where Elon Musk appears as the organisation's top donor.

Twitter, Tesla and SpaceX boss Musk is reportedly planning his own rival to OpenAI's wildly successful chatbot ChatGPT. 

Earlier this Friday, an Italian regulator banned ChatGPT over privacy concerns.

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