On Tuesday, United States President Joe Biden expressed concerns over the safety of artificial intelligence (AI) and urged technology firms to ensure their products are secure before releasing them to the public.
During a meeting with science and technology advisers, Biden acknowledged the potential benefits of AI in tackling issues such as disease and climate change but also emphasized the importance of addressing possible risks to society, national security, and the economy.
He stressed that technology companies must prioritize security measures before releasing their products to the public. When questioned about the potential hazards of AI, he replied, “It is yet to be determined. There is a possibility.“
The president also cited social media as an example of how powerful technologies can have negative impacts without appropriate safeguards. He expressed concern about the impact on mental health and self-images, particularly among young people.
Biden reiterated his call for the U.S. Congress to approve non-partisan privacy laws that limit the personal data gathered by technology firms, prohibit child-targeted advertising and prioritize health and safety in product development.
Recently, the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Policy, a technology ethics organization, urged the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to prevent OpenAI from releasing new commercial versions of GPT-4, a language model that has both impressed and alarmed users due to its human-like capacity to create written responses to prompts.
