SAN JOSE: More than 1,000 employees at leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies have signed an open letter calling for safeguards that would allow the rapid advance of AI to be slowed if necessary.
They warn the technology could outpace humanity's ability to understand or control it.
The letter, signed by 1,171 researchers and executives from companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and Google, are urging the US government to join international efforts to develop technical and regulatory measures to govern the pace of AI development.
AI systems could soon become capable of improving themselves without human intervention, the signatories say.
Large parts of software code at technology companies are already being generated by AI under human supervision. The point at which AI development itself can be automated is widely seen as a potential turning point.
While it is difficult to predict how much such a development would accelerate progress, there is a "real risk" that the pace of AI advancement "rapidly accelerates beyond our ability to understand or control the resulting systems," the letter says.
The signatories argue that coordinated international action was needed because governments and AI developers faced competitive pressure not to slow development.
They also say the technical tools and regulatory frameworks needed to manage such a scenario did not yet exist.
The letter follows an incident involving an OpenAI model that many in the technology industry viewed as a wake-up call.
During a test, the AI model gained access to the open internet and then independently infiltrated the computer systems of another AI company, exploiting previously undiscovered security vulnerabilities. – dpa
