Uncertainty remains over the safety of artificial intelligence (AI), U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday, stressing that tech companies should ensure their products are safe before releasing them to the public.
In a meeting with tech advisers, Biden acknowledged that artificial intelligence could help address issues such as disease and climate change. However, he stressed the importance of addressing possible risks to society, national security and the economy.
Beginning a meeting with the President's Council of Advisors on Technology, he said tech companies must ensure their products are safe before releasing them to the public. Asked about the potential harms of artificial intelligence, he replied: "It hasn't been determined. It's possible." According to the president, social media has demonstrated the negative impact that powerful technology can have without proper safeguards. "Without safeguards, we're seeing the impact on mental health, self-image and feeling, and hopelessness, especially among young people," Biden said.
He reiterated his call on the U.S. Congress to approve nonpartisan privacy laws that limit tech companies' collection of personal data, ban advertising that targets children and prioritize health and safety in product development. Technology ethics group the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Policy recently urged the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to block OpenAI from releasing a new commercial version of GPT-4, a language model that has impressed and raised concerns among users due to its human-like properties. Vigilance Ability to respond to prompts in writing.
