DAILY MAIL COMMENT: The Wild West of AI is in need of a sheriff
As long ago as the 1950s, the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov recognised the vast potential of artificial intelligence – and the vital need to control it.
Also a distinguished scientist and academic, Asimov’s ‘laws of robotics’ are perhaps more relevant today than ever. Their central tenet is that no robot should ever harm a human.
That rule was comprehensively shattered when an American military drone powered by AI allegedly killed its handler rather than abort a mission to destroy an enemy’s air defences.
It is said to have been a simulation exercise, so no one was actually harmed. But the implications are truly chilling. The incident (later denied by the Pentagon) was recounted at a London conference by Colonel Tucker Hamilton, chief of AI test and operations for the US Air Force.
It was a warning about the breakneck speed at which AI is evolving and the lack of boundaries. ‘You can’t have a conversation about artificial intelligence, machine learning, or autonomy if you’re not going to talk about ethics,’ Col Hamilton said.
As long ago as the 1950s, the science fiction writer Isaac Asimov recognised the vast potential of artificial intelligence – and the vital need to control it
His reservations echo those of hundreds of technology experts across the world who released a joint statement this week, saying that AI threatens human extinction on a par with nuclear war.
They include Yoshua Bengio, a ‘Godfather’ of AI, who now feels ‘lost’ because he knows the technology he helped create could have catastrophic consequences.
The development of AI has become a modern arms race, with competing countries realising the immense power they can achieve by being at the forefront.
This makes international controls all the more difficult to agree or impose. There will always be bad actors driven only by national interest and megalomania.
During his visit to Washington next week, Rishi Sunak will discuss with President Biden what kind of ‘guardrails’ or new regulatory systems may be necessary to keep this burgeoning industry in check.
In the UK alone, there are more than 3,100 AI companies and a staggering 432,000 British firms using the technology in some form. Those numbers will only grow.
In the public sector too, seismic changes are predicted. We report today that a substantial number of civil servants could be replaced by AI within the next decade.
This is society-changing stuff – for better or for worse. So while encouraging the positives, the negatives have to be minimised. It will not be easy, but the free world must try to set ethical parameters. Otherwise AI will be the equivalent of the Wild West – without a sheriff.
Lemmings of Aslef
Today’s strike by train drivers, cynically timed to coincide with both the FA Cup Final and the Epsom Derby, will undoubtedly cause inconvenience to sports fans. But they will find a way around it.
Although estimated to have cost the British economy some £5billion so far, Aslef’s campaign against the travelling public is one of rapidly diminishing returns.
Today’s strike by train drivers, cynically timed to coincide with both the FA Cup Final and the Epsom Derby, will undoubtedly cause inconvenience to sports fans. But they will find a way around it
Strikes are so frequent that commuters simply shrug and either work from home or find alternative routes. This is extremely bad news for the operating companies, of course, but also for workers.
Strike-bound services are driving travellers away, decimating revenues and making the railways unsustainable. That will ultimately mean fewer trains and fewer drivers.
Like lemmings, the unions seem determined to drive their industry – and inevitably many of their own members’ jobs – over a cliff.
n IT may surprise shoppers struggling with soaring inflation that world food prices fell to their lowest level in two years last month. Supermarkets say the fall should eventually be mirrored in their own prices. So what are they waiting for?
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