‘Godfathers of AI’ and Steve Wozniak Join 850 Others in Call for Ban on ‘Superintelligence’ AI Development

A diverse group of influential individuals, from tech pioneers to politicians, has signed a statement urging a pause in the creation of artificial intelligence that surpasses human cognitive abilities. The list, which includes the legendary “Godfathers of AI” and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak along with figures like Richard Branson, believe that superintelligent AI could lead to “human economic obsolescence and disempowerment, losses of freedom, civil liberties, dignity, and control, to national security risks and even potential human extinction.”

CNBC reports that a statement published on Wednesday, backed by more than 850 prominent figures, has called for a halt to the development of “superintelligence” – a form of AI that would exceed human intelligence in essentially all cognitive tasks. The signatories, spanning various industries and backgrounds, include Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, and two of the “Godfathers of AI,” Yoshua Bengio and Geoffrey Hinton.

The concept of superintelligence has gained significant attention in the AI world, as tech giants like Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta and OpenAI compete to release increasingly advanced large language models (LLMs). Meta has even gone as far as naming its LLM division the ‘Meta Superintelligence Labs.’ However, the statement’s signatories warn of potential risks associated with superintelligence, including “human economic obsolescence and disempowerment, losses of freedom, civil liberties, dignity, and control, to national security risks and even potential human extinction.” (Ed note: And so we have the artificial intelligence 'Skynet' creating 'The Terminator.' Meta will need and will be buying power from a nuclear power plant to fuel its AI projects.)    (Read More)