Steve Wozniak and Others Urge a “Pause” on AI
The Woz isn’t exactly a stupid guy. The man who’s been called the “true mastermind” and the “brain and the heart” of Apple has many accomplishments under his belt, not least of which is that he helped design most of the early Apple computers, including the Macintosh. Steve Jobs, meanwhile, worked largely on marketing and press appearances, stealing the lion’s share of the public credit.
What does Woz think of our current AI predicament? Well, he recently signed his name to an open letter lobbying to temporarily halt its development, so he can’t be too big of a fan of the direction it’s headed. Summarizing the letter, Apple Insider quotes it as saying:
…“recent months have seen AI labs locked in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one — not even their creators — can understand, predict, or reliably control.”
“AI labs and independent experts should use this pause to jointly develop and implement a set of shared safety protocols for advanced AI design and development that are rigorously audited and overseen by independent outside experts…These protocols should ensure that systems adhering to them are safe beyond a reasonable doubt.”
“This does not mean a pause on AI development in general…merely a stepping back from the dangerous race to ever-larger unpredictable black-box models with emergent capabilities.”
Elon Musk and other tech luminaries also signed the letter.
