OpenAI's Sam Altman warns of 'risk', suggests IAEA-like agency to serve as AI watchdog
Artificial intelligence poses an “existential risk” to humanity, a key innovator warned during a visit to the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, suggesting an international agency like the International Atomic Energy Agency oversee the ground-breaking technology.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is on a global tour to discuss artificial intelligence.
“The challenge that the world has is how we're going to manage those risks and make sure we still get to enjoy those tremendous benefits,” said Altman, 38. “No one wants to destroy the world.”
OpenAI's ChatGPT, a popular chatbot, has grabbed the world's attention as it offers essay-like answers to prompts from users. “mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.”
Altman made a point to reference the IAEA, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, as an example of how the world came together to oversee nuclear power. That agency was created in the years after the U.S. dropping atom bombs on Japan at the end of World War II.
“Let's make sure we come together as a globe — and I hope this place can play a real role in this,” Altman said. “We talk about the IAEA as a model where the world has said ‘OK, very dangerous technology, let's all put some guard rails.' And I think we can do both.
"I think in this case, it's a nuanced message 'cause it's saying it's not that dangerous today but it can get dangerous fast. But we can thread that needle.”
Lawmakers around the world also are examining artificial intelligence. The 27-nation European Union is pursuing an AI Law that could become the de facto global standard for artificial intelligence. Altman told the U.S. Congress in May that government intervention will
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