Instead of a temporary halt to training high-performance AI systems as demanded by 3,000 signatories of a recently published letter, Urs Gasser urges lawmakers around the globe to ensure that such technologies are safe and comply with fundamental rights. An “AI technical inspection agency” would make sense, he argues.
Yes, there are a lot of chances and risks, and we must urgently develop rules how we deal with this new technology legally and ethically. There’s a broad discussion needed across all parts of our society.
Doing nothing in that respect will entail devastating social consequences imo. My personal worst-case scenario: China will accelerate its Orwellian surveillance state. Some US companies will rise and forward all data to the NSA. And the EU will introduce strict privacy rules and then sign new Safe Harbor agreements making sure that exactly these privacy rules will never be truly enforced.
As a result we’ll see a few more billionaires, while the mass of people and small businesses will pay the bill.