Questions mount over what an AI 'slowdown' would look like
Leading AI industry figures, including the CEOs of Anthropic and OpenAI, are calling for a slowdown in the development of powerful AI models due to existential safety concerns. However, experts note that global competition, particularly between the US and China, makes a coordinated pause difficult to enforce.
Why it matters
The debate highlights the tension between rapid technological innovation and the potential for catastrophic risks, mirroring historical nuclear arms race dilemmas.
Image source, Reuters Image caption, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has called for the pace of development to be slowed down
Technology editor Published 24 minutes ago There has been no shortage of warnings from AI's top bosses about existential threats over the years.
I attended the world's first AI safety summit in Bletchley Park in November 2023 where the focus was on the most serious threats imaginable, posed by the most powerful AI models.
At the time, many thought this was in the realm of sci-fi and the real threats were comparatively far more mundane: job losses, cheating in exams. Three years later, many of those same voices don't seem to be so sure.
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