AI Ethicist Views: Insights on ChatGPT
The rise of smart generative AI has prompted much concern from AI ethicists across the world. Even the late physicist Stephen Hawking viewed AI as one of the greatest threats to humanity's future. Similarly, Elon Musk and over 1000 technology leaders have called for a pause on generative AI and the advancement of legislation.
Despite this, many Venture Capitalists see great potential in generative AI companies. Already in 2022, over $140 Billion has been invested, with Silicon Valley investors like Sequoia Capital predicting that generative AI will unleash trillions in value. ChatGPT, OpenAI’s large language model (LLM), is one of the chatbots leading the industry, alongside other market leaders like Replika, Character.ai, and You.com.
Chatbots like ChatGPT are pattern matchmakers, using large volumes of data to provide answers to end-user questions. Although there is much enthusiasm surrounding generative AI and chatbots, there are still prickly issues to resolve. For instance, there is the issue of producing toxic content, surfacing up biases on women, especially women of color, copyright infringement, and the negative impact on the job market.
Moreover, the hallucination effect of these generative AI technologies poses another risk. It can create answers that are not based on accurate data, but rather sourced from fake data and news. Thus, it is imperative for large language models (LLM’s) to cleanse out erroneous data to avoid harmful outcomes, brand risks, or even impact stock markets.
AI leader and deep learning expert, Yoshua Bengio, advocates for the acceleration of AI capabilities due to advancements in language-generating technology. AI researchers and CEO’s in Canada have also signed a letter advocating for the Canadian Federal Government to pass the AI and Data Act, called AIDA, which is part of Bill-C27. Additionally, over 1,000 technology leaders have signed an open letter advocating for a 6-month pause in advancing generative AI chatbot technology. The EU has also accelerated its plea for democratic countries like the USA, Canada, and the UK to finalize an AI legal framework that creates guardrails around the AI industry.
ChatGPT, like other generative AI chatbots, has provided insights on the ethical concerns surrounding AI. However, as the industry matures, more challenging ethical questions need answering. There is a need to define what it means to be human and what we want as humans instead of having technology leaders continually shape our future. While movies like Terminator may seem improbable, movies like Minority Report are eerily more accurate today due to advancements in technology by companies like SenseTime.
The ethical implications of never being able to be anonymous and have our private data ranked by social habits can have Orwellian overtones. Therefore, we need to have a clear vision of the world we want to live in a unified legal framework to avoid creating a world where machines dominate mankind.
