Musk and tech leaders call for halt to ‘giant’ AI experiments

An open letter signed by technology industry leaders and Tesla founder Elon Musk called on artificial intelligence labs to pause “giant AI experiments” for at least six months.

The experts expressed fears that AI technology whose intelligence competes with that of human beings can “pose profound risks to society and humanity”.

The letter – signed by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, AI expert Stuart Russell, Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn and other leading academics and executives – said AI labs around the world are engaged in an “out-ofcontrol race” to develop the most powerful AI systems, which could be more powerful than anyone can imagine.

“Powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable,” reads the letter, which was published by the Future of Life Institute.

The letter comes after recent fake photos generated by AI spread across social media. One picture that went viral showed Pope Francis wearing a luxury white puffer jacket. That AI-generated image first appeared on Reddit before duping users on Twitter.

Another featured several pictures of Donald Trump being apprehended by police officers, which circulated days after he claimed without evidence that he would be arrested.

The former US president himself shared a Truth Social post that contained an AI-generated image of him kneeling in prayer.

Tech leaders said AI labs should immediately pause training AI systems more powerful than GPT-4 for at least six months while they develop safety protocols that would be overseen by an independent panel.