Julie Clover
Several current and former employees of OpenAI and Google DeepMind today shared an open letter warning about the dangers of advanced AI and the current lack of oversight of companies working on AI technology.
Staff suggest there are a number of risks we face with AI development, including further entrenchment of existing inequalities, manipulation and disinformation, and also a loss of control over autonomous AI systems, which the letter says could lead to human extinction.
AI companies have “strong financial incentives” to move forward with development and avoid sharing information about their protective measures and risk levels. “We don't think they can all be expected to share this voluntarily,” the letter says, adding that it is up to current and former employees to speak out.
Until there is effective government oversight of these corporations, current and former employees are among the few who can hold them accountable to the public. But broad confidentiality agreements prevent us from voicing our concerns, except to the very companies that may not be addressing them. Standard whistleblower protections are insufficient because they focus on illegal activity, while many of the risks we worry about are not yet regulated.
Ultimately, employees are calling on AI companies to offer robust whistleblower protections for those who speak out about AI risks.
- Avoid creating or enforcing agreements that discourage criticism of risk-related issues.
- Offer employees a verifiable, anonymous process for raising risk-related concerns with the board, regulators, and independent organizations with relevant expertise.
- Foster a culture of open criticism so that employees can raise risk-related concerns with the public, the board, regulators, and others, while protecting trade secrets.
- Avoid retaliation against employees who publicly share confidential risk-related information after other processes have failed.
A total of 13 employees signed the letter, including seven former OpenAI employees, four current OpenAI employees, one former Google DeepMind employee, and one current Google DeepMind employee. OpenAI threatened employees with loss of equity for speaking out and forced them to sign draconian NDAs that silence criticism.
The letter comes as Apple prepares to announce several AI-powered features for iOS 18 and other software updates on Monday. Apple is working on its own AI functionality that will be built into apps across the operating system, and has also signed a deal with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT features into iOS 18.
Tags: ChatGPT, OpenAI[ 149 comments ]
