Is AI evolving too quickly? Some say yes. Others, not so much.

Some leading lights in the field of artificial intelligence are calling for a pause in the development of the most powerful versions of the software, saying it could risk society and civilization.

However, one local professor and cognitive scientist said while the technology is impressive, it is still a tool designed to make our lives better.

She said there is currently no danger of it taking on a nefarious mind of its own.

In an open letter this week signed by tech leaders including Tesla’s and Twitter’s Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, the Future Of Life Institute called for an immediate six-month pause in the training of AI systems more powerful than current world-leading ChatGPT-4.

'Out of control' race

Noting the rapid evolution of human-competitive intelligence, the institute said AI labs are “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.”

It added the most powerful AI systems should be developed only once there is confidence their effects will be positive, and their risk will be manageable.

It pointed to the need for policymakers to ensure robust governance systems to cope with the dramatic economic and political disruptions that AI will cause.

Unenforceable restrictions

However, despite the warnings being voiced by some, Professor Liane Gabora in the department of psychology at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, said enforcing a pause or moratorium on AI training would be difficult.

“How would you enforce a six-month pause … especially in countries that may not wish to cooperate with this kind of pause on AI development,” Gabora told Kelowna10.

She added she’s heard the argument that the United States is so far ahead of everyone else there’s no risk from other malevolent players, but asks how could we be sure the technology wouldn’t fall into the hands of bad actors in the U.S.

Gabora said the open letter has got people thinking about the ethics and dangers of AI and it’s important to be aware of these. Concerns have been raised about misinformation and the threat AI could cause to democracy.

'AI wants to please us'

But as for the worst-case sci-fi scenario of AI turning on its human inventors, she said we’re not there … yet.

“I view AI currently, as a tool like an arrowhead or screwdriver, something we use for our own purposes. They are not alive in their own right. They aren’t self-organizing, self-mending structures that do things for their own good…”

“It wants to please us and not by being something that is potentially nefarious. It’s not autonomous. It’s only when it gets to be more autonomous that these deeper, more difficult questions come into play.”