President Joe Biden is set to hold discussions with experts on Tuesday, April 4, to explore the risks and opportunities presented by rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, according to a report by AP.
The meeting is expected to discuss protecting individual users' rights and safety, ensuring responsible innovation, and implementing appropriate safeguards.
Additionally, the President will urge Congress to pass legislation that protects children and reduce data collection by tech companies.
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 29: U.S. President Joe Biden listens to Argentinian President Alberto Fernandez as he delivers remarks before a bilateral a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House on March 29, 2023 in Washington, DC. The two leaders are meeting on the sidelines of the second, mostly-virtual Summit for Democracy after a previously planned meeting was postponed last year when Biden tested positive for COVID-19.
AI Risks and Opportunities Meeting
The council meeting with President Biden is known as the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).
The group is composed of experts in science, engineering, technology, and medicine. It is chaired by Arati Prabhakar, the Cabinet-ranked Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The timing of the meeting is particularly noteworthy, as it comes in the wake of an open letter from the Future of Life Institute, which calls on all artificial intelligence developers to temporarily pause their development of deep learning technology for at least six months.
The letter states that companies should avoid training AIs beyond GPT-4, the latest technology from OpenAI, due to the significant risks or dangers present in this rapidly-growing field.
The open letter has gained considerable support, with more than 1,300 signatories already backing it, including many familiar names from the tech industry.
Among the supporters are Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Tesla, Twitter, and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Stability AI CEO Emad Mostaque, GettyImages CEO Craig Peters, Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp, and numerous other tech leaders.
Academics from renowned schools and institutions worldwide also support the letter.
Widespread Concerns about AI
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence has led to widespread concerns about its ethical and societal implications. The popular ChatGPT AI chatbot, for instance, helped spark a race among tech giants to unveil similar tools while raising concerns about the technology's power and potential misuse.
Given these concerns, the Biden administration is eager to explore the risks and opportunities presented by artificial intelligence development, and the President's meeting with PCAST represents a crucial step in this direction.
The meeting with PCAST is expected to provide a valuable opportunity to discuss artificial intelligence's ethical and societal implications and explore ways to mitigate potential risks while maximizing its potential benefits.
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