Barack Obama, former President of the United States (YS), has expressed encouragement after frontier labs leaders reached an agreement to “slow down pace of AI development”.
On X, he said, it is the “first step”, describing it as “good and necessary”.
The 44th President of the US also expressed more encouragement that, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly recognised as a “powerful new technology” that should be widely discussed about.
Obama posted: “I was encouraged this week to see the leaders of the frontier labs agree on the need for them to slow down the pace of AI development. Given the stakes, it’s a good and necessary first step.
“But I’m even more encouraged by the growing recognition that how this powerful new technology develops should be at the center of our public debate.”
Obama, who served two (2) terms as US President from 2009 to 2017, said, for more than ten (10) years, he has been monitoring the “progress” of AI, and he is convinced, the technology is not “overhyped” when it concerns its possible future effects.
He said, AI is thriving at a “lightning speed”, even faster than those pushing it “can keep up with”.
Obama said: “I’ve been watching the progress on AI for over a decade now, and one thing that’s clear to me is that the potential impact of this technology is not overhyped. It’s also moving at lightning speed – and even faster than those who are engineering it can keep up with.”
A member of the Democratic Party, Obama said, he is not an “AI accelerationist”, who is of the belief that the technology will lead to what he termed “techno-utopia”, and he is also not a “doomer” with the thinking that it will lead to the “destruction” of humanity.
He said: “I’m not an AI accelerationist who believes it will lead to some techno-utopia, and I’m not a doomer who thinks it will inevitably lead to humanity’s destruction.”
Obama, the first African American to serve as US President, said, the “choices” we make right now will determine whether AI brings “amazing breakthroughs in medicine, energy or unleashes potential catastrophe”.
He added, these “choices” should not be made by the companies involved alone, but, by “all of us”.
He said: “But whether this technology results in amazing breakthroughs in medicine, energy and education or unleashes huge economic disruptions, greater inequality, and potential catastrophe will depend on the choices that we make right now – choices that should be made not just by the companies involved, but by all of us.”
