The heads of major artificial intelligence companies on Wednesday called on the United Nations to establish international controls for the technology they are developing, warning the Security Council of risks that could threaten humanity if its growing capabilities are mishandled or become impossible to control.
Amodei warns of artificial intelligence risks
Dario Amodei, chief executive of Anthropic, said artificial intelligence could pose a risk to all humanity if it were managed poorly. He issued the warning in testimony before the Security Council on Wednesday afternoon, during a meeting devoted to discussing the technology’s widespread adoption and the accelerating development of its capabilities.
Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI and Amodei’s rival in the artificial intelligence sector, in turn warned that humans could lose control of the future to artificial intelligence. Alongside Amodei, Altman called for action by countries around the world through the Security Council to establish safeguards and enforceable oversight rules.
The two officials stressed the need to prevent the technology from reaching a level of power that would be impossible to curb. They also called for safeguards to prevent artificial intelligence capabilities and influence from being concentrated in the hands of a single company or country, leaving control of the technology dependent on one party.
Security Council examines international oversight mechanisms
The Security Council meeting with senior technology industry leaders examined whether the growing capabilities and rapid spread of artificial intelligence warrant international oversight. Discussions covered which body could take on this task, the mechanisms that could be used to implement it, and the point at which intervention might come too late to contain the risks.
The debate places world leaders before the question of who should hold decision-making power in situations involving life and death: humans or machines. It comes amid growing concerns about uses of artificial intelligence that could exceed humans’ ability to supervise and control them. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres had warned of “killer robots” on the day before the Security Council meeting.
European experts and leaders said the warning was not an exaggeration, arguing that the risk had already become a reality or was an extremely imminent possibility, and that it involved serious dangers requiring action.
