On Wednesday, California lawmakers passed a bill that aims to prevent catastrophic damages caused by artificial intelligence software. The legislation, known as the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act, requires certain AI companies doing business in California to curb massive loss of life or damages surpassing US $500 million with safety evaluations and other measures.
Most of the world’s largest AI companies are based in the Golden State, and nearly all that aren’t will still do business there. As a result, the bill will have far reaching—perhaps even global—effectsif Governor Gavin Newsom signs it into law in the coming weeks. The bill is currently awaiting his signature after being passed by both the state assembly and the state senate.
The bill was hotly debated. It passed after nine rounds of amendments that resulted from back-and-forth between lawmakers and the AI industry. It also prompted disagreement within the AI industry, with some backing the bill, even if hesitantly, and others saying it would stifle innovation and deter smaller companies and investors from developing AI products.Open source advocates also expressed concerns that the bill would put onerous requirements on those who publish AI models for others to build on freely.
Yoshua Bengio, a computer scientist and a so-called “godfather of AI,” said the potential for both extremely good and extremely bad consequences calls for balance. Speaking at a press conference held Monday by California State Senator Scott Wiener, the bill’s sponsor, Bengio said foreseeable risks call for action.
“We should aim for a path that enables innovation but also keeps us safe in the plausible scenarios identified by scientists,” Bengio, who supports the bill, said.
Regulating technology with unknown power
At stake is the future of a technology with revolutionary potential. As programmers create software that replicates aspects of human intelligence, the potential to automate and significantly speed up tasks that require advanced cognition grows.
The possibilities inherent in AI mean that governments should adopt a “moonshot mentality” to supporting the tech’s development, Fei-Fei Li wrote in an essay for Forbes. Li—a computer scientists often referred to as a “godmother of AI”—also wrote that an earlier version of the bill faltered by holding the original developer of AI software liable for misuse by a third party (the bill also holds the third party accountable.). Following Li’s remarks, Wiener went through multiple rounds of amendments that aimed to lessen the burdens on original programmers.
The consequences of AI for business, military, and government sectors are difficult to predict, but both boosters and concerned watchdogs agree that the widespread use of the technology will be transformative.
Concerns over AI include doomsday scenarios like the creation of a biological weapon, as well as the amplification of more mundane…
Read full article: California’s AI Safety Bill Will Have Global Consequences
The post “California’s AI Safety Bill Will Have Global Consequences” by Laura Hautala was published on 08/30/2024 by spectrum.ieee.org