AI is now top of mind for company executives, but with experts warning of risks to society, companies need to set safety standards and ensure robust ethical oversight.
The buzz surrounding last November’s launch of ChatGPT – and the resulting tsunami of investment in “generative” artificial intelligence (AI) systems – has sharpened businesses’ interest in the emerging technology not only for its potential to spark a productivity boom but because it could bring significant disruption to the labor market.
But the rush of groundbreaking AI launches, including last month’s release of GPT-4, has also raised ethical questions about the potential danger caused by AI systems’ reinforcing of existing human biases. In March, Elon Musk and other AI experts even called for a six-month pause in the development of powerful new AI tools to allow enough time to set safety standards and head off potential risks to society.
The open letter was signed by more than 1,100 individuals within hours of its publication by the non-profit Future of Life Institute. “Recent months have seen AI labs locked in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one – not even their creators – can understand, predict or reliably control,” the letter read.
Meanwhile, Italy has temporarily banned ChatGPT over privacy concerns, but this has yet to muffle corporate enthusiasm for investing in AI systems. According to a recent Accenture survey, nearly two-thirds of organizations are prioritizing AI above other digital technologies, while the global AI market is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 38% to reach nearly $1.6 trillion by 2030.
Meanwhile, companies including Google, Microsoft, and Adobe are adding AI features to their search engines and productivity tools, and some law firms, including Allen & Overy, are using AI chatbots to help lawyers draft contracts, client memos, and other legal documents.
Such companies are at an enticing, but dangerous, fork in the road. On the one hand is the array of opportunities that AI presents, from revolutionizing work to boosting innovation in areas ranging from healthcare to supply chain management. It’s a potential goldmine. On the other, there may be landmines; many businesses are worried about AI’s adherence to fairness, its reliability, and its frequent inability to explain in understandable terms how it reaches its conclusions – a “black box” algorithm – which could erode trust in the technology and hamper widespread adoption and implementation.
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