- Scientific director reacts to letter signed by Elon Musk asking for a break in the AI race
- For him, slowing down is not the solution
- OpenAI, developer of ChatGPT, and partner of Microsoft, has already spoken on this subject
Microsoft does not press “pause”. Thanks to its partnership with OpenAI, the Redmond firm is well positioned to win the AI race against Google. And this one has no intention of slowing down, despite the request for six months by more than 25,000 signatories, including Elon Musk. As a reminder, referring to the risks associated with artificial intelligence, the document signed by Musk requests a six-month pause on the development of artificial intelligences more powerful than GPT-4.
But in a recent statement, Eric Horvitz, Microsoft’s chief scientist, clarified things: the Redmond firm refuses. In an interview with Fortune magazine, he explains that he respects those who signed this letter asking for a moratorium and he even considers that the concerns over the race for AI are “reasonable”.
However, for him, the break requested by the letter is not a solution. “(…) I would rather see more knowledge, and even an acceleration of research and development, rather than a six-month break, which I’m not even sure is feasible. This is a very ill-defined request in some ways…”, did he declare. According to him, a six-month break would not change much and he would, on the contrary, prefer to accelerate investments to better understand, guide and even regulate AI.
Why a break?
“AI systems with human and competitive intelligence can pose serious risks to society and humanity, as shown by extensive research and recognized by the best AI laboratories”, we read in this letter signed by Elon Musk. And since these systems can bring big changes for humanity, some planning is required.
But, according to this, “that level of planning and management is not happening, even though the past few months have seen AI labs locked in a frantic race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one – not even their creators – can reliably understand, predict, or control”.
The idea is to use this pause period for all players to define security protocols for advanced artificial intelligences together. And if this pause does not take place, the signatories call on governments to intervene.
OpenAI has already reacted
It should be noted that the company OpenAI, Microsoft’s partner in the field of generative AI, has already reacted to this letter. Speaking at an MIT event, its CEO, Sam Altman, admitted that even he was worried about AI earlier this year. “I think it’s really important to move forward with increasing caution and rigor on security issues”, he also said. In addition, the more AIs are developed, the greater the security measures will have to be. However, for the CEO of OpenAI, the letter signed by Elon Musk would lack “technical nuances”.
In essence, everyone agrees that the risks associated with AI exist and that security protocols are indeed necessary. But the proposal to pause the race for AI is unconvincing (and could benefit China). Like Microsoft, Google does not press pause. But its CEO, Sundar Pichai, thinks these are well-founded concerns.
“In this area, I think it’s important to hear the concerns. There are a lot of thoughtful people behind this, including people who have been thinking about AI for a long time”, he explained, according to an article in the New York Times. Regarding Elon Musk, Pichai recalls a discussion he would have already had with the CEO of Tesla and Twitter about these concerns, 8 years ago. Musk would therefore have always been concerned.
As a reminder, Elon Musk invested in OpenAI, before leaving the project. And today, he is creating a new AI laboratory. Because of this, some believe that Musk’s signing of the letter is primarily a way to slow down future competitors.
