Comments from Meta executive suggest UK summit’s regulation talks challenging.
Nick Clegg, Meta’s Global Affairs President, likened AI fervor to ’80s video game moral panic at a two-day AI safety summit, cautioning international leaders about the great hype cycle. Clegg emphasized that new technologies often elicit both excessive enthusiasm and pessimism.
Starting at Bletchley Park on Wednesday, UK officials aim to initiate a regulatory process mirroring global climate crisis efforts. However, Clegg’s remarks indicate potential opposition from influential industry players.
He noted, “Emerging technologies invariably spark excitement, fueling both extreme enthusiasm from proponents and excessive skepticism from critics.
Clegg recalled the 80s, when there was widespread concern about video games, similar to past moral panics surrounding radio, bicycles, and the internet.
Regarding predictions of imminent, game-changing AI, he cautioned, “Forecasts of impending breakthroughs often diverge from reality, even among experts deeply immersed in the field.
The ongoing discussions this week will predominantly center on long-term concerns, particularly the potential for an artificial general intelligence system to elude human control. Many experts caution that a highly advanced system might even pose a threat to humanity itself.
Stuart Russell, a computer science professor at the University of California, Berkeley, attending the summit, stressed on Tuesday that the current approach to AI system development is unsafe. He urged a shift towards “making safe AI” rather than merely attempting to ensure AI safety, emphasizing that building AI and then relying on a safety team to prevent misbehavior is an inadequate strategy.
Connor Leahy, the CEO of AI safety research firm Conjecture, who will also participate in the summit, called for an end to permitting privately owned AI companies to create “lethal machines” that could seize control of the future. He underscored the importance of transparency, stating that a select few unelected private companies are conducting a potentially dangerous experiment on individuals and their families without consent or knowledge.
Officials emphasize that a primary objective of the summit is to encourage leading AI technology developers to reduce the pace of their advancements in constructing the most advanced models. Nevertheless, Clegg’s remarks imply that this will prove to be a formidable task.
He remarked, “I still uphold traditional liberal values, and I have concerns about excessive state intervention.” He stressed the significance of permitting innovators and creative entrepreneurs to pursue the development of these technologies without automatically assuming that each of their endeavors will pose a existential threat.
