Tesla’s chief executive Elon Musk remarked that an “overwhelming consensus” existed concerning the regulation of artificial intelligence, following a meeting of tech leaders in Washington to discuss AI issues.
Tech leaders participating in the discussion included Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s chief, Sundar Pichai.
Microsoft’s former CEO Bill Gates, along with the current CEO Satya Nadella, were also present at the event.
The meeting on Wednesday with US lawmakers took place in a private setting.
The session was organized by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and brought together not only tech industry leaders but also civil rights advocates.
The potential of artificial intelligence, both for good and bad, has attracted intense attention from global politicians.
In May, Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, the organization responsible for ChatGPT, appeared before a US Senate committee to outline the possible hazards associated with this emerging technology.
ChatGPT and other analogous platforms have the capability to generate remarkably human-esque responses to inquiries, although they can sometimes produce wildly incorrect answers.
“I think if this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong…we want to be vocal about that”, Mr Altman said.
“We want to work with the government to prevent that from happening”, he remarked.
There are concerns that the technology might precipitate widespread job losses, amplify fraudulent activities, and enhance the credibility of false information.
Furthermore, AI corporations have faced backlash for developing their models using data harvested from the internet, often without consent or compensating the original creators.
In April, Mr. Musk conveyed to the BBC: “I think there should be a regulatory body established for overseeing AI to make sure that it does not present a danger to the public.”
During Wednesday’s assembly, he advocated for a “referee” in the domain of artificial intelligence.
“I think we’ll probably see something happen. I don’t know on what timeframe or exactly how it will manifest itself,” he conveyed to journalists subsequently.
Mr. Zuckerberg suggested that the legislature “should engage with AI to support innovation and safeguards”.
He further noted it was “better that the standard is set by American companies that can work with our government to shape these models on important issues”.
Republican Senator Mike Rounds cautioned that legislative actions would necessitate some duration.
“Are we ready to go out and write legislation? Absolutely not”, Mr. Rounds declared. “We’re not there”.
Democratic Senator Cory Booker noted that all attendees concurred that “the government has a regulatory role,” yet formulating the necessary legislation would present a significant hurdle.
