JamzNG Latest News, Gist, Entertainment in Nigeria
“The current race towards more powerful AI is a step towards change greater existential risk to every aspect of our lives,” he wrote in an open letter.
The High Commissioner’s message comes six days after a former researcher at Anthropic – the company behind the chatbot Claude – resigned from his post while warning that “the people building AI firmly believe that AI could kill us all by the end of the decade.”
Several recent incidents, including the resignation of Jacob Coxon and the announcement by OpenAI and Anthropic that their models had left the testing environment, have intensified the global debate over the extent to which governments should regulate the technology.
No country can do it alone
Mr Türk called on countries hosting leading AI companies to step up regulationsincluding by requiring companies to report serious incidents, verify AI capabilities, and require human rights due diligence.
He also urged Member States to work together through multilateral institutions to build global consensus on AI governance and protect human rights in the face of AI risks.
“No country can regulate this technology alone,” Mr. Türk wrote. “No company can decide for itself what risks the world should accept. No one should be asked to give up their human rights in exchange for claims of technological progress.”
‘Speed at the border’
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Saturday published an essay entitled We Must Move to the Borderargues for companies to continue progress in AI development while taking the time to ensure adequate safeguards to prevent “agent systems” from going rogue.
Leaders at OpenAI, Google and xAI all expressed agreement with Mr. Amodei’s proposal, which includes calls for third-party evaluation of AI models, increased coordination between AI companies, and cooperation between governments.
Mr Türk welcomed Mr Amodei’s proposals in particular and industry self-regulation broadly – but added that governments should also take immediate action to regulate AI technology.
There is no ‘race to the bottom’
“A number of countries that host leading AI companies have a special obligation to do so requires these companies to act responsibly and holds them accountable if they do not,” wrote the High Commissioner.
By identifying companies in China and the US as “leaders” in advanced AI, Türk recognizes the need for international standards and harmonization to de-incentivize an AI arms race between the two countries.
“They need to align their approaches so that competition between jurisdictions does not lead to a race to the bottom.,” Türk wrote.
AI risks and governance must be assessed based on their impact on human rightsaccording to Mr. Türk.
In addition to ensuring AI does not destroy humanity, the human rights chief said that AI safety means actively protecting people, communities, institutions and future generations.
People care more about profits
Türk rejected industry arguments that AI safety protections slow innovation, arguing that no one should be forced to give up their human rights to enable progress.
Right now, he said the rights to life, food, privacy, health and security are all threatened by the uncontrolled development of AI.
Whether AI will continue to enable disinformation and unequal automation or address the climate crisis and cure disease depends on how companies and governments choose to respond to the current “pivotal moment,” according to Türk.
“The generation now entering adulthood will inherit the consequences of the decisions taken on this issue without having a say in it,” Türk wrote. “We owe it to them to ensure these decisions are made openly, with their rights in mind, and with humility as the scale of this effort demands.”
