Here comes Generative AI out of nowhere this year, and has captured the imagination and attention of the tech industry. Companies seem to be fully embracing it, perhaps feeling that this could be a truly transformative technology. But even as companies scramble to get in on the ground floor of this potential opportunity, a cloud hangs over the excitement.
This is the big unknown of regulation, which could have a huge impact on any company that sells and implements genetic AI. Biden issued an executive order dictating a broad set of guidelines. an AI security summit was held in the UK. and the EU is also working on its own set of potentially stringent requirements.
There has been a range of backlash to the rise of genetic artificial intelligence, with some – such as the letter signed by 1,100 prominent tech industry figures last March – calling for a six-month moratorium on AI development. This of course did not happen. If anything, it has accelerated, even as some scream hysterically that AI is an existential threat.
At the other end of the spectrum, there are people who believe that any type of regulation would stifle innovation without actually creating any real protection. The main argument is how can you protect people from negative effects until you know what they are. Of course, some would argue that if you wait for these bad results, it may be too late to do anything about it.
And some people see the existential threat argument as a smoke screen covering real problems faced by the current generation of artificial intelligence. Worse, overly strict regulations favor the wealthiest and most established companies, sidelining startups that may not be able to afford to comply.
There’s something to be said for that, too, especially when incumbents sit at the table and help draft those same regulations. It raises some interesting questions about how much should be regulated and where the right answers lie.
Set it or let it be
It seems that most people would see some regulation of AI as a given, perhaps a necessity, especially from those who see it in purely dystopian sci-fi terms. But this is not always the case. At Marc Andreessen’s rambling pro tech manifestopublished in October, envisions a world of unlimited and unregulated technology where regulators are the enemy of progress.
“We believe that intelligence is the ultimate engine of progress,” he wrote. “Intelligence makes everything better. Smart people and smart societies outperform the less smart in almost every metric we can measure. Intelligence is the birthright of humanity. we should extend it as fully and widely as possible.’
In his view, regulating AI could, in some cases, be akin to murder: “We believe that any slowdown in AI will cost lives. The deaths that could have been avoided by artificial intelligence that was prevented from existing is a form of murder.”
He is not alone in some of his views.
