Regulators around the world are taking a renewed look at AI and it’s no surprise, what with all the warnings about the potential of an extinction event. But even if AI doesn’t go SkyNet on us, there are still risks — privacy, bias, and misinformation chief among them.
According to a report by PWC, nearly all business leaders report that their company is prioritizing at least one initiative related to AI systems in the near term but only 35% of executives say their company will focus on improving the governance of AI systems. A company does not have to be developing AI models to face AI risk, experts say, since major enterprise vendors are furiously adding cutting-edge AI to their products and services.
But the potential for harm is dramatic.
Experts are warning of AI risks related to privacy, safety, misinformation, and bias — all the way up to the extinction of the entire human race. One petition, signed by Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, and other tech leaders, has already garnered more than 30,000 signatures. Another petition released at the end of May by the Center for AI Safety was signed by Bill Gates, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, US Congressman Ted Lieu, and many others.
