Business, Political Leaders Agree to Safely Develop, Deploy AI
2024-05-23
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1Major AI developers and top government officials have agreed on measures that aim to ensure that artificial intelligence (AI) systems are safely built and deployed.
2The announcement came at the end of a two-day meeting in Seoul, South Korea.
3The gathering continues discussions from a similar event held last November in Britain.
4The goal of both meetings was to bring AI developers together with government representatives to establish goals and guidelines related to safe AI development.
5Many governments and international organizations across the world are seeking to create rules for AI technology development.
6Officials and activists have raised concerns that AI systems could present risks.
7The concerns include AI possibly attacking online systems controlling infrastructure.
8Another concern is that AI systems might help spread misinformation or create "deepfakes" to mislead voters in elections.
9Legislative attempts to create rules for AI development, especially in the United States, have not been successful.
10Last October, President Joe Biden issued an executive order calling on companies working on AI projects to develop guidelines for protecting users of the technology.
11At the latest meeting, officials from 16 different technology companies signed a voluntary agreement on Tuesday.
12In it, they promised to develop AI technology in ways that limit possible harm to the public.
13Among the companies were American-based Google, IBM, Amazon, Microsoft and OpenAI.
14Others included China's Alibaba and Tencent, as well as South Korea's Samsung Electronics and G42 from the United Arab Emirates.
15The British government co-led the summit with South Korea.
16It said in a statement that the leaders in attendance sought to establish "a common understanding of AI safety and align their AI research."
17One of the main parts of the latest agreement calls for creating a network of publicly supported safety institutes designed to guide research and testing of AI technologies.
18Some of these institutes have already been set up by Britain, the U.S. and Singapore.
19United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the meeting through a video link that AI technology has continued to quickly develop since the group's last meeting in Britain.
20Such development had led to "life-changing technological advances."
21But Guterres added that the progress had also created "life-threatening new risks."
22"We cannot sleepwalk into a dystopian future," he added.
23"Where the power of AI is controlled by a few people - or worse, by algorithms beyond human understanding," he said.
24Earlier this year, the U.N. General Assembly approved its first resolution on AI.
25The measure received support from all 193 U.N. member states.
26It called for international efforts to ensure that new technologies help all nations, respect human rights, and stay "safe, secure and trustworthy."
27Attendees agreed on the need for AI companies to exchange ideas on their progress and development methods.
28The group also agreed to provide information on safety.
29South Korea's science and information minister, Lee Jong-Ho, spoke to the gathering before it ended on Wednesday.
30He said worldwide AI development had reached a point where "cooperation is not an option; it is a necessity."
31AI experts welcomed the steps to start creating rules, or regulations, to keep the technology safe.
32But some noted that such rules need to be enforced to be effective.
33Francine Bennett is director of the AI-centered Ada Lovelace Institute in Britain.
34She told Reuters news agency, "We need to move past voluntary...the people affected should be setting the rules via governments."
35AI companies should be able to prove their products meet established regulations before they even reach the market, said Max Tegmark.
36He is president of the Future of Life Institute, a nonprofit bringing attention to the risks of AI.
37Tegmark said companies should equate safety with profit and attempt to limit possible harms during the development of systems.
38South Korean minister Lee said a big problem is that any laws aimed at making AI systems safer are far behind continuous development and public releases.
39He told Reuters, "But for safe use by the public, there needs to be flexible laws and regulations in place."
40I'm Bryan Lynn
1Major AI developers and top government officials have agreed on measures that aim to ensure that artificial intelligence (AI) systems are safely built and deployed. 2The announcement came at the end of a two-day meeting in Seoul, South Korea. The gathering continues discussions from a similar event held last November in Britain. The goal of both meetings was to bring AI developers together with government representatives to establish goals and guidelines related to safe AI development. 3Many governments and international organizations across the world are seeking to create rules for AI technology development. Officials and activists have raised concerns that AI systems could present risks. The concerns include AI possibly attacking online systems controlling infrastructure. Another concern is that AI systems might help spread misinformation or create "deepfakes" to mislead voters in elections. 4Legislative attempts to create rules for AI development, especially in the United States, have not been successful. Last October, President Joe Biden issued an executive order calling on companies working on AI projects to develop guidelines for protecting users of the technology. 5At the latest meeting, officials from 16 different technology companies signed a voluntary agreement on Tuesday. In it, they promised to develop AI technology in ways that limit possible harm to the public. Among the companies were American-based Google, IBM, Amazon, Microsoft and OpenAI. Others included China's Alibaba and Tencent, as well as South Korea's Samsung Electronics and G42 from the United Arab Emirates. 6The British government co-led the summit with South Korea. It said in a statement that the leaders in attendance sought to establish "a common understanding of AI safety and align their AI research." 7One of the main parts of the latest agreement calls for creating a network of publicly supported safety institutes designed to guide research and testing of AI technologies. Some of these institutes have already been set up by Britain, the U.S. and Singapore. 8United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the meeting through a video link that AI technology has continued to quickly develop since the group's last meeting in Britain. Such development had led to "life-changing technological advances." But Guterres added that the progress had also created "life-threatening new risks." 9"We cannot sleepwalk into a dystopian future," he added. "Where the power of AI is controlled by a few people - or worse, by algorithms beyond human understanding," he said. 10Earlier this year, the U.N. General Assembly approved its first resolution on AI. The measure received support from all 193 U.N. member states. It called for international efforts to ensure that new technologies help all nations, respect human rights, and stay "safe, secure and trustworthy." 11Attendees agreed on the need for AI companies to exchange ideas on their progress and development methods. The group also agreed to provide information on safety. 12South Korea's science and information minister, Lee Jong-Ho, spoke to the gathering before it ended on Wednesday. He said worldwide AI development had reached a point where "cooperation is not an option; it is a necessity." 13AI experts welcomed the steps to start creating rules, or regulations, to keep the technology safe. But some noted that such rules need to be enforced to be effective. 14Francine Bennett is director of the AI-centered Ada Lovelace Institute in Britain. She told Reuters news agency, "We need to move past voluntary...the people affected should be setting the rules via governments." 15AI companies should be able to prove their products meet established regulations before they even reach the market, said Max Tegmark. He is president of the Future of Life Institute, a nonprofit bringing attention to the risks of AI. Tegmark said companies should equate safety with profit and attempt to limit possible harms during the development of systems. 16South Korean minister Lee said a big problem is that any laws aimed at making AI systems safer are far behind continuous development and public releases. He told Reuters, "But for safe use by the public, there needs to be flexible laws and regulations in place." 17I'm Bryan Lynn 18Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. 19___________________________________________ 20Words in This Story 21align - v. to support the opinions of a political group, country, etc. 22institute - n. an organization where people do a particular kind of scientific, educational or social work 23advancement - n. progress 24dystopian - adj. relating to a very bad or unfair society in which there is a lot of suffering 25algorithm - n. a set of steps that are followed to complete a computing process or problem 26option - n. a thing that is chosen from a set of possibilities 27via -prep. through 28flexible - adj. able to change or be changed easily according to a particular situation